Akuma Sannin
by VOLLUNDAESIR913
Summary: Dark/Grey Naruto, Jiongu, Hanyou, Half-demon, Santoryu, Harem, Multi-Harem, slight gender bender, fem. Hidan. After only a few days after the Kyuubi attacked Konoha and was defeated, Hiruzen Sarutobi shows the civilian and shinobi councils their new resident Jinchuuriki. After almost being murdered, Naruto isn't even human anymore, and no matter what some one WILL snap...
1. Chapter 1

**Akuma no Seji**

 **Hello everyone happy to say that i'm finally writing my first Fanfic, just gonna say this once right now that i do not own Naruto or any of the rights to the franchise. But i did teach the guy how to be awesome…. Ok now that the stupid jokes are out of the way for good(no they're not, expect alot more) we can get on to the story, i've been an avid reader of Naruto Fanfics for the past couple years now starting back when i was still in the Navy. So here's my take on a fanfic, this will be very GREY, sometimes dark, Naruto will have the Jiongu-Earth Grudge Fear, he will be raised since the age of 5 BY Kakuzu and Hitomi(Fem. Hidan). He will mostly use** **Tetsu no Ryu, and Santoryu kenjutsu style, Fuinjutsu, MANY different forms of Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and some Genjutsu, needless to say that this guy is going to be a real badass.**

 **I'm also going to be altering the timeline so that he's now 5 years older than people like the Konoha 11, Karui, Samui, Omoi etc,etc, so by the time he meets he'll be 17 years old and a Jounin while they're all 12 years old and Gennin. This means that Itachi will only be a couple of months older that Naruto by the time of the Wave Arc, and 21 years old after the 3 year time skip. By the time Naruto becomes a Jounin he will be as vice ridden as they come, just as perverted as Jaraiya, but he can get away with it because he know's how to reign himself in. I'm also going to be changing A LOT of things throughout the Narutoverse for this particular story, cause i feel that the idiot Kishimoto(am i saying it right?) messed up on a fuck ton of things all throughout the series. Hell i know for a fact that people with upbringings like Naruto's almost NEVER turn out that way, just take a look at the real world around you, you won't have to look very long for any examples of how people can turn out. They are in a NINJA VILLAGE, where the biggest and most important occupation there is is being a highly trained cold blooded killer, who can spy, sabotage, torture, and do all other kinds of things that most might consider war crimes.**

 **So yeah i'm gonna be changing up a lot, with certain characters getting wake up calls, and also none of that baby the genin bullshit either, the moment they put on those headbands they became soldiers, doesn't matter if they're still kids or not in wartime. If people like Kakashi, Itachi and others have been doing C and B rank missions since the age of 6 where killing others is the norm, then there's no reason why all of the Jounin Senseis can't at least crack the whip on those kids during training and force them to learn something. There will also be many different pairings between characters, a few will even have harems for various reasons and circumstances, including gender swaps of a couple of the characters just because i can. This Fanfic is going to have a lot of long ass chapters, plenty of lemons, and the story is going to be long as well, I have no intention of this thing ending any time soon, so enjoy! :)**

 **WARNING: THIS FIRST CHAPTER WILL CONTAIN THE TORTURE AND RAPE OF A CHILD, THIS WILL ONLY HAPPEN ONCE IN THE STORY, I DO NOT CONDONE ANY THING EVEN RELATED TO THE SCENE IN QUESTION, THIS IS JUST FOR THE YOUR BENEFIT.**

 **Chapter 1**

It was October 13th, just two days after the Kyuubi no Kitsune had attacked the Hidden Village of Konoha, an elderly man in his late fifties was sitting in his office, after recently taking back the position of Hokage. Hiruzen Sarutobi was a powerful man, even in his age he had only just started to lose a step or two from when he was in his prime, nicknamed "The Professor" for his keen intellect and enormously vast knowledge of ninjutsu. And hailed as the "God of Shinobi" for his immense power and mastery over all of the shinobi arts, as a veteran of all three Shinobi Wars, two of them which he personally led Konoha to victory in as Hokage. Once fighting off the combined might of the other four kages: the Mizukage, the Tsuchikage, the Kazekage, and the Raikage in an all out battle royal, and winning. And now for the second time in his life, within the same week, he had never felt so powerless.

 _Flashback_

 _When the Kyuubi attacked, it came without warning and there was no time possibly to prepare for it, when it touched down in the NorthWestern part of the village. All that people could do was scream and run for their lives as buildings were destroyed or knocked over, running and climbing over one another to get to safety. In the twelve minutes that it took for Konoha to respond and retaliate, the entire market district had been leveled, arriving on the scene with most of the shinobi forces Hiruzen was able to beat back the biju with his Adamantine Staff. As he stood there ready to face the kyuubi, he was soon joined by his old friend and rival Danzo Shimura, and two of his students Tsunade and Orochimaru. They began to bombard the Kyuubi with everything that they had, firing the most powerful combination attacks they could. The surrounding forces soon began to aid them by casting their own attacks combining them in order to deal maximum damage, as the shinobi sent wave after wave of large scale jutsus. As more and more dust was kicked up, the less they could see of the demon till eventually none of them could see it at all. As they waited for the dust to clear Hiruzen began issuing orders to the forces gathered, knowing that they wouldn't have long, and that they had only enraged the Kyuubi further. The shinobi forces moved quickly to prepare themselves, moving wounded away from the area and bringing whatever supplies they could to those fighting._

 _While this was going on Shikaku Nara, Jounin Commander and Head of the Nara Clan, appeared by Hiruzen's and Danzo's sides. "Sandaime-sama, not that i'm ungrateful or anything but where the hell is the Yondaime? We need him." he asked tiredly._

 _Looking over to his commander he quickly replied, "Minato-kun is dealing with the bastard who's responsible for all of this, when I left him he was facing off with the man who is controlling the Kyuubi. I don't know who he is or how he pulled any of this off, but rest assured he will have hell to pay." he said grinding out the last part, he already had to watch his wife die at the hands of some unknown shinobi, and was dealing with the Kyuubi now. He was not in a good mood, looking back towards the where the Kyuubi supposedly was he could just make out it's outline. Out of nowhere it let out a massive roar that immediately blew back everything around it clearing away the smoke and dust that had obscured it from view, and blowing away all of the trees and parts of the ground up into the air. As the shinobi picked themselves up off of the ground they looked to see that somehow all they had accomplished was angering the demon even further, as they looked on the Kyuubi began to charge._

 _Thinking quickly Danzo called out. "Hiruzen, Tsunade, Orochimaru! Bring out your boss summons now!" As one all four of them did three hand seals and with a little blood slammed their hands on the ground while calling out " Summoning Jutsu!" In a massive blast of smoke there appeared four incredibly large animal summons, a dark purple snake with horns, a white slug with blue streaks, a 9 ft. tall white furred monkey in shinobi attire, and finally an elephantine chimera creature._

 _Looking over to his summon Hiruzen quickly shouted, "Enma staff form quick!" "Right!". Not wasting any time the monkey king Enma quickly transformed into the Adamantine Staff, grabbing the staff a large eye appeared along the side so as to watch what happened next. As the summoners jumped onto their respective summons heads, the village watched as the titanic battle unfolded. Looking over to the gathered forces Hiruzen barked out his final orders before joining the fight, "All of you shore up the defenses as best you can! Earth specialists try to rebuild the village wall if possible, and get whatever non-combatants here to safety, we need to hold the Kyuubi at bay long enough for the Yondaime to arrive!"_

 _One of the Jounin then spoke up, "Sandaime-sama! Where is the Yondaime, he should be here?!"_

" _Finishing off the bastard responsible for all of this, now you have your orders go!" And without another word Hiruzen jumped into the fray, landing next to Danzo on top of his summon's head, Baku. Looking over to one another they briefly shared an unspoken exchange of words which ended in them both doing various hand seals, both going for a combination that made them feared for decades. As the both of them were doing their hand seals Baku was already in action, tilting his head downwards he began to inhale and suck in vast amounts of air which he then aimed and shot out of his trunk at the Kyuubi, Danzo and Hiruzen having finished unleashed their Katon jutsus into Baku's attack._

" _ **Katon: Searing Migraine!"**_ _the both roared, as the massive flames sped towards the Kyuubi, the flames easily made into an S Rank attack by Baku's winds, the other summons and their summoners got out of the way. The Kyuubi could only use it's tails to try to protect itself as the massive inferno hit it dead on, actually blasting the fox back a few miles from the village, upon contact with the ground it dug a massive trench as it skidded to a halt. After releasing the jutsu the others did not let up as the kyuubi began to get back up, although dazed, if it was mad before then it was pissed off now. Getting back up the Kyuubi opened up its maw and began to gather vast amounts of blue and black energy into it's mouth, however it was immediately set upon by Manda who had sprung from the ground and curled around the Kyuubi's tails. With it's tails effectively pinned to the ground by Manda, Katsuyu then landed on top of the Kyuubi while Baku then slammed into the Kyuubi's front, all of them trying to stop it from letting off it's next attack._

 _This wasn't enough to stop the Kyuubi from attempting to fire off an_ _ **Imari(Tailed Beast Ball)**_ _at the village though, and it would have destroyed Konoha if not for Danzo acting when he did._

 _Going through several hand seals while Baku blasted wind into the atmosphere, he called out " Fuuton: Divine Wrath of the Wind God!". As the_ _ **Imari**_ _hurtled towards the village it was stopped halfway by a F5 Tornado that came crashing down on top of it, effectively robbing the vile jutsu of its momentum for now. Thinking quickly Danzo jumped onto the Kyuubi's head calling out " Quickly everyone get out of here now!". Forming a hand seal and charging the last of his chakra, he roared out as he forced his jutsu to carry the_ _ **Imari**_ _up into the atmosphere, those watching could track where it was going by the unholy light it gave off as it moved right above where the Kyuubi was._

 _Seeing what it was that Danzo was about to do the others and their summons quickly jumped off of the Kyuubi and fled a safe distance, not before Danzo was able to look towards Hiruzen and leave some parting words. "Your buying the drinks when you get to heaven monkey-baka, I'll tell Biwako about your porn stash in the meantime though." Winking as he blasted Hiruzen off of Baku's head and dispersed his summon, he then forced the_ _ **Imari**_ _to come crashing down on the Kyuubi from above._

 _Having been caught by Tsunade who landed on her Slug summon's head, Hiruzen desperately extended his Adamantine Staff, doing whatever he could to save Danzo from his suicide jutsu. An arm belonging to Enma grew out of the side of the large staff as its end raced to where Danzo was, grabbing the older man by his left shoulder the staff then retracted just as the_ _ **Imari**_ _came crashing down on the Kyuubi's back._

 _A timely intervention that cost him his right arm being permanently crippled, but at least Hiruzen was able to save his old friend. It still gave the Konoha forces the breathing room they needed to regroup their forces and locate the Yondaime Hokage who had yet to show up, which was something that was starting to worry Hiruzen as he knew how strong his successor was. But the Kyuubi had other plans it seemed. As it began to charge up and fire another_ _ **Imari**_ _, only for the Yondaime to appear in a yellow flash on top of a giant toad, and teleport the blast away causing the everyone to cheer. Upon a closer inspection of Hiruzen and the others though, they could see that he was not in good shape, as Hiruzen and the others shunshinned to the top of his head, Tsunade immediately began to try to restore some of his wounds while Katsuyu worked on Danzo not far away._

" _Dammit Minato just what the fuck happened to you?! If I didn't know better I'd say you just spent a few hours being my punching bag!" said Tsunade as she quickly got to work, her being a legend with Medical jutsu even she was having some difficulty with a few of Minato's injuries._

" _Long(gasp)...story….."said a bloodied Minato. As Tsunade tried to heal him as fast as she could Minato was busy throwing his signature Tri-bladed kunai into a what could only be described as a grid, with several of his kunai all running parallel to the village wall to his left and right._

" _Minato! If you're going to do something then it better be quick, 'cause that thing's about to fire another one off!" Hiruzen yelled_

" _I know just hold on, I already set everything up before i arrived. That damn bastard kept me tied up this whole time, whoever he is he escaped before I could finish him off. He used some form of a Jikukan Jutsu to escape, it could even make him intangible!" as Minato finished now almost completely healed, Kyuubi fired off another_ _ **Imari.**_ _As it rocketed towards the village Minato threw another Kunai into the air in front of it, forming a hand sign he called out "Hijutsu: Hiraishin Triangulate!". In another flash of light the_ _ **Imari**_ _disappeared only to appear and explode several miles off in the distance, looking to those gathered he then spoke._

" _Now I'm going to take the Kyuubi away from the- OH SHIT!" before he could say anything else he was interrupted as a smaller but much faster_ _ **Imari**_ _almost slammed into them all. Going on pure instinct and adrenaline he activated his jutsu and teleported the attack away from them, as they heard the attack go off in the distance they all looked to see the Kyuubi begin to fire multiple_ _ **Imari's**_ _in rapid succession at different parts of the village wall. As the attacks came Minato began to move using his Hiraishin Jutsu he flashed in front of the closest incoming_ _ **Imari**_ _. Using the grid of Hiraishin Kunai he created earlier he used his 'Hiraishin Triangulate' to safely teleport it miles away and then began to flash from one point to the next all along the village wall. As each_ _ **Imari**_ _was about to hit Minto would flash in front of it and make it disappear in almost the same instance, before flashing away to deal with another one in the same fashion. By the time the assault had ceased not a single attack had struck the village or even made it to the wall surrounding it, having been sent elsewhere via Hiraishin._

 _As the others looked towards Minato he simply smiled towards them sadly before speaking to them, "Look after my son you old monkey, and bury me with my Kushi-hime….goodbye." Without another word he flashed to the top of the Kyuubi's head, and in another flash they were both gone. As Hiruzen and a now stabilized Danzo looked onward, they could just make out where Minato had taken the Kyuubi….right back to the area that Kushina had been giving birth in._

 _End of Flashback_

By the time they even got within five miles of the battle they could see the Kyuubi shrinking as it was being sealed away, when Hiruzen and Danzo arrived with what few ANBU they could grab, they found the Yondaime Minato Namikaze dead with his wife Kushina Uzumaki curled up into his chest with their newborn infant son crying in between them. Beckoning them over, she lasted long enough to whisper something into his ear before naming her son and pressing something into his hand. He could still see the look of love in her eyes for her baby even in death.

As he walked through the halls of the Hokage Tower flanked by his two ANBU, he looked down at the little bundle in his arms and sighed, knowing that this next part was probably going to end in disaster. Stopping in front of a large set of double doors he stops to straighten himself up before entering into a very large semi circular room, inside he sat in his chair at the center of it where he could see all of the councilmembers. All of whom were present, starting from the left there were the Civilian Council who were in charge of the day to day inner workings of the village, but were known for being notoriously greedy and power hungry, and from the middle and ending on the left was the Shinobi Council. Placing the baby down in front of him he gave a brief nod to Danzo, whose entire body was bandaged up making him look like a mummy, before he addressed the others in the room.

"As you are all aware of the Kyuubi attacking the village and being repelled back, and that it was our Yondaime who brought the beast away from the village to safely battle it…. I will simply skip to what you all don't know. When I arrived on scene with Danzo and the ANBU we discovered the Minato was dead having sacrificed his life to seal away the Kyuubi into this child. The child's name is Naruto Uzumaki and he is the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, his mother was Kushina Uzumaki the previous Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, but unfortunately died in childbirth so Naruto will be a ward of the village. When Kushina was giving birth it weakened the seal that held the Kyuubi, enough so that the Kyuubi was able to break free, such is the danger of all female Jinchuuriki." he said, giving those gathered some time to digest what it was he was telling them.

Pressing forward he continued, "This is to be an SS Rank village secret so as to protect the child, it was Minato's wish that this boy be seen as a hero for the burden that has been forced upon him. As he is now he will never have a normal life of any sort, you all know how difficult and harsh the lives of most Jinchuuriki can be, most become bloodthirsty madmen who just want to watch the world burn. Some have even given into the demons inside them and broken their seals, releasing their Biju and killing themselves in the process, it is for those reasons that this is never to be spoken of ever again. If it were to get out to the public right now or anytime soon then my ANBU and regular shinobi would be held up day and night, just trying to restore order to the village. And even after everyone has calmed down he would be ostracized and shunned, with enough abuse i fear he would grow up to hate this village. I want him to grow up and love this village, I want him to grow up loyal to this village, and to want to _protect it,_ it would not do for any of us to have an unstable and spiteful Jinchuriki among us. Otherwise we risk having to battle the Kyuubi again, and I don't think we would survive another battle, now if there are any of you who have questions then now is the time to speak."

After a few moments of waiting the entire room was filled with screams from the entire Civilian Council and some of the Shinobi Council as well, "Kill the demon brat!" "Finish what the Yondaime started!" "Kill the monster while it's weak!". As Hiruzen and most of the Shinobi Council began restoring order among the hysterical men and women, everyone failed to notice one of the Civilian Councilmen inching towards the Hokage's desk where Naruto lay.

Rochi Haruno was one of the more prominent councilmen in the village. His clan was well known for being shrewd traders and a few of them in the past had even been splendid shinobi. Which was why he and his clan ran the day to day affairs of the entire market district and trading that the village conducted, even contributing half of the yearly funds for the Shinobi Academy budget. While he sat quietly in his chair listening to the Hokage speak all he could think about was how he watched half of his family burn to death in what was once his home, and how his own wife was crushed under the paw of the Kyuubi itself. Now he only had the remnants of his clan, his daughter Mebuki and her husband Wasupu, and now this chance for revenge, he almost laughed when everyone else started screaming and drawing attention. It was too easy for the retired Jounin now councilman to get across the room during all the ruckus, even when the Hokage saw what was about to happen there was nothing he could do but deflect his tanto away from the demon's heart and into it's stomach….

 **BOOM!**

When the light finally dimmed down from the explosion was say that there was a violent red chakra swirling around the newborn Naruto, while on the ground lay the charred corpse of what _was_ Rochi Haruno. But what was most shocking were the changes that were happening to Naruto as his blonde hair became a dark blood red, while his regular ears slowly elongated and moved closer to top of his head becoming fox ears, similar to the Kyuubi. The most drastic change of all was the small fluffy blood red tail with a black tip that grew and wrapped around the now crying newborn, the changes only took minutes to complete before the red chakra receded back into the seal. While all of the shinobi in the room were still trying to dispel what they believed to be a powerful genjutsu, Hiruzen could only cry knowing now that there was no chance for Naruto now.

 _Time skip - Five years - 15 miles outside of Konoha_

It was the 10th of October and the fifth anniversary of the Kyuubi Attack, for a few years it was simply a day of mourning and reconciliation for those who survived. This year however would be the first time that the village would be holding a festival to instead celebrate the villages triumph of the Kyuubi, to celebrate the memory of the brave heroes who died in defense of Konoha, and most importantly to celebrate the man who defeated the demon. However some people had different ideas on how to celebrate this night, while the festival was in full swing throughout the village, a strange red haired little boy was running for his life through the woods just outside of the village. It was just after nine o'clock when all of the children had been put to bed an hour ago, when the Headmistress of the orphanage had dragged him out of his bed and thrown him outside into the street. As Naruto shook his sleepy head to regain his bearings he saw that he was surrounded by lots of angry adults, many of whom had weapons in their hands. He didn't have time to even speak before he was grabbed by his hair and yanked upwards, the last thing he saw before blacking out was a pair of red glowing eyes with a weird design. When he woke up he quickly looked around to see the same angry adults only this time they were all somewhere in the woods, his attention immediately locked onto what appeared to be the grownups' leader who had his sword drawn and was walking towards him. Grabbing the child by the ears and lifting him up into the air he then began to hit him in the face with the pommel of his katana, before finally throwing him onto the ground again.

"Tch, well it looks like the demon _does_ bleed after all," the man spoke _"_ we're finally going to finish what the Yondaime couldn't and put you down for good you little beast!" He sad before kicking the child in the stomach. "But first we're all going to have some fun with you, soooo here's what's going to happen, we're all going to give you a ten minute head start and you're going to run as fast as you can. And if you somehow manage to get away the you live, if not….." He chuckled " Then we kill you! Now start running, give us something to chase!"

Not knowing what else to do Naruto did the only thing he could do, he ran as far and as fast as his little legs could carry him, not even caring for searing pain in his ribs, the fear having overridden most of it. Quickly losing track of time, he decided to zigzag through the trees mimicking a cat that he saw once that was being chased, as he ran he suddenly heard the hoots and screams as the mob. Signaling to him that he was out of time and needed to run faster, which somehow he did making everything around him seem like a blur till he ran into a low hanging tree branch. Now dizzy and reeling from the pain of a bleeding forehead, Naruto stumbled back onto his feet as he tried to run again,

"OVER HERE!"

Whipping around suddenly no longer dizzy he saw a young ninja wearing one of those weird green jackets the older men wore preparing to throw a bunch of shuriken. Not even thinking twice he ran as hard as he could away from the ninja zigzagging through the trees, till he felt something hit him in the back, the pain so intense he saw pure white as he stumbled into a clearing by a river and collapsed. As he lied there hearing the laughter and yells of the mob get closer, he couldn't help but think "Why, why is this happening to me, was i a bad boy? What did I do!?".

As he looked over he saw the leader with the glowing red eyes and the young ninja from before talking. "Excellent work Hayate! The little bastard surprised us all with that chase though, never thought he'd channel chakra to his legs like that. Must have done it on instinct."

"Right Fugaku-sama, i suppose i should thank the little shit for giving me a moving target to hit. More fun that way, now howabout we get down to the main event eh?"

The now identified Fugaku replied. "Ha! I like your enthusiasm boy, but why rush when we've got all night to enjoy or time with him? Since you are the one that caught him, I think it's only fair that you should be the one to start us all off." A sadistic smirk passed over the newly minted Chunin's face, "With pleasure sir."

The young man then began to wail on the little boy covering his body in bruises before taking out a kunai and slowly dragging its edge down one of Naruto's little arms, after hearing his screams for a few moments he began again on the other arm. Eventually the rest of the mob began taking turns torturing the boy breaking his bones, shaving off his skin, destroying his ribs, even removing his feet. Till their leader Fugaku decided to step in, after ripping off what was left of the boys tattered clothes and unbuckling his pants the others soon caught onto what he was going to do. Deciding that it was a fitting treatment for the demon brat the others began to follow suit, and waited for their leader to finish with the brat. Before Naruto even knew what was happening he was yanked up by his ears into a kneeling position on his knees, he gained just enough coherence to open his eyes before his mouth and throat were stretched painfully wide to accommodate something that tasted disgusting. Before he could even try to protest whatever it was was withdrawn almost to his lips before being slammed back down his throat again, it kept up this brutal fast pace for what felt like an eternity, before finally something as thick as syrup was shot down his throat. Finally being able to breath Naruto coughed and hacked before vomiting all over the grass in front of him, looking up he saw what it was that had been forced into his mouth. To his horror he noticed that the rest of the mob, some 30 or so men were all either half naked or entirely nude as a hand grabbed him by his hair and pushed him face first into the grass. Fugaku then looked up to the others surrounding him "Alright boys get in line!", the pain that shot through Naruto as Fugaku penetrated him was so severe it caused his mind to go blank. It did nothing to keep him from being aware of everything that happened though as he felt everything, while the mob were busy taking turns with their victim none of them were aware of the impending doom that was making its way towards them.

 _Meanwhile in another part of the forest_

"Jashin dammit Kakuzu! Why the fuck are we going through this damn forest anyway!? The only thing we've come across is dirt, trees, grass, dirt, trees, grass and…. IS THAT THE SAME RIVER WE PASSED AN HOUR AGO!?" Screamed an admittedly beautiful woman with purple eyes. The woman in question was 5'10" with long silver white hair pulled back into a ponytail, she wore black cargo combat pants that ended half way down her shins, with high heeled shinobi sandals and only bandages to cover her large bust. Over all of this she wore a black trench coat with a red cloud design over it with a large triple bladed red scythe slung over her back, if one were to look carefully they would see her slashed headband of Yukigakure, worn around her neck and a small pendant in the shape of a triangle within a circle.

Her partner now identified as Kakuzu could only roll his eyes as he knew the best thing he could do was to just ignore his new partner's antics, having already explained why they were out in this part of the woods to begin with simply kept walking. Kakuzu was a tall man of 6'6" and possessed a very powerful build, wearing the same type of trench coat, he also wore black ANBU cargo pants with a black sleeveless shirt. With a black mask covering the bottom half of his face and a white hood to cover his hair, over which sat his slashed Takigakure headband. He was still considering whether or not he should try to kill his partner but unfortunately he knew it wouldn't stop her from annoying him, he'd already cut her head off twice for Kami's sakes! Just his luck to get the one immortal in the world for a partner who not only is an expert at pissing him off, but won't shut the fuck up!

"Shut up Hitome and keep walking, I already told you that it was either this or going all the way around the Land of Fire just to get to River Country. Besides we're not even 40 miles away from Konoha and don't feel like dealing with any Leaf Shinobi right now, because you couldn't be quiet. So for the last time shut your mouth!"

"Up yours you half assed pin up doll! I don't need to listen to you, and-" before she could continue her colorful rant, Kakuzu's hand shot out extended on what appeared to be very thick black threads and had clamped itself around her mouth. Effectively silencing her from 11' feet away.

"Be quiet and listen" he whispered, "we're not alone out here." Deciding to do as he said if only to satisfy her curiosity, she listened along with him and slowly but surely they were able to hear the shouts of men coming from their seven o'clock. Moving silently they followed the shouts to their source where they came upon a very peculiar site, there appeared to be a large group of naked men in a clearing by large river just opposite of them. They all seemed to be cheering on those who were in the middle of the group whom the two couldn't see thanks to the crowd, one thing they did notice was that most of them were shinobi from the Leaf.

"Well this is certainly unexpected…." Kakuzu said, still stunned at what he was seeing.

"You're telling me, hell there's even some Hyugas and Uchihas over there as well, hmmm I'm almost tempted to join them." Hitome giggled perversely as a little bit of blood dripped from her nose.

"Well we're leaving, i need to go gouge my eyes out, and then we need to get back on track." Kakuzu replied rolling his eyes, wanting more than anything to just forget that he walked in on what appeared to be a massive gay orgy.

As the two both turned to leave the stopped hearing one of the men across the river yell to whoever was in the center of their gathering, "That's right, show that little brat who's boss Fugaku-sama!".

This made the two Akatsuki freeze altogether for multiple reasons, the first being that they both recognized the name Fugaku, a name that belonged to the head of the famous Uchiha clan. The fact that they were able to pick out a few Chunin and Jounin level Uchihas and Hyugas only led credence that theory, and second because of the 'little brat' comment. As they slowly turned around to confirm their suspicions as to what they were really witnessing, a gap opened up amongst the throng of men which showed none other than Fugaku Uchiha, Head of the prestigious Uchiha Clan, had his pants down around his knees as he mercilessly fucked what appeared to be a small boy. No older than five maybe six years old while some young man, in only an unzipped Chunin flak jacket was pistoning his erect dick as hard into the little boys mouth as he could. Now Kakuzu and Hitomi were by no means saints, hell they weren't even good people, but even they had a strict list of lines they would never cross.

For Kakuzu he could only feel complete disgust and rage over what he was witnessing, he had done some horrible things in his lifetime, slaughtering people,electrocuting others, ripping the beating hearts or other organs out of still barely living enemies, or just simply setting others on fire. But _never_ in his 71 years did he ever so much as _harm_ a child let alone _this,_ looking over to his partner he could see that she was of the same mind which was still somewhat surprising given her religion.

"Hey Hitome," he said quickly getting her attention. " What do you say we put these assholes in the dirt?" His partner for once was in agreement with him.

"Oh hell yeah, Lord Jashin may desire slaughter of all life, but even he frowns upon harming children, and he even despises rape more than _life."_ Came the quick reply, both knowing what they needed to do the simply dashed across the river with their respective weapons in hand.

 _Back in the clearing_

The men gathered couldn't believe how lucky they were tonight, not only was the Hokage out of the village on official with the Daimyo at the capitol, but they were actually able to sneak the Kyuubi brat out of the village! They had a blast chasing the little shit through the woods which turned out to last alot longer than any of them had expected, he even outran some of the Jounins. But after finally catching him they had all taken their own pound of flesh out of the demon, before their leader Fugaku had a brilliant idea when he started to skull fuck the demon. Ha! Genius, and so they had all spent the last 5 hours taking turns with it, hell by this time they had all used him at least 4 times by now. As on of the men closest to the river took a swig of some saki he had, he noticed the time read just after 3 am. Figuring he should go home soon so that way his wife wouldn't get suspicious, he still needed to drop his son off at school tomorrow after all. This was the last thought that went through his head as stoney dark hand punched its' way through where his heart should be, he was dead before he even hit the ground.

It was complete pandamonium as Hitome and Kakuzu cut their way through the men gathered there, by the time everyone realised they were under attack half of them were already dead while the rest tried to defend themselves. The keyword was _tried_ , as Fugaku was able to react once the killing commenced he had already gotten his pants up and ran leaving the rest to their fates, not wanting to have to explain anything should this get out. The young Chunin Hayate, who had been working on his seventh blowjob from the monster was not so lucky as he ended up with an extendable pike pinning him through his shoulder to a tree behind him. Courtesy of one _seriously enraged_ Hitome, who then decided to finish up the slaughter by channeling some Fuuton chakra into her scythe and swung it around herself by the cable that it was attached to. The other 11 men who were still alive at this point were mowed down by the scythe, being reduced to fist sized chunks that covered the entire clearing, no one except Fugaku had escaped, but luckily the had one left that they could " _question"._

Kakuzu for the most part couldn't believe how stress and anger relieving that was, absolutely therapeutic in his book. All though a small part of him couldn't help but wonder when was the last time that he had actually stuck his neck out for someone else, still though who knew a little wanton slaughter could feel _this good. "Hmmm, maybe Hitome has the right idea about killing people, if it can feel this satisfying."_ He idly thought to himself as he looked over to his partner who was staring at the boy on the ground, following her line of sight he saw something that made him stop in his tracks. The boy in question was a sight to see, not because he was covered in bodily fluids which they knew to expect given his situation, it was a combination of several things. For one it was clear that this boy had been tortured mercilessly, there were dozens of cuts littering his body, his skin had been burned in some places, there were actual chunks of his scrawny flesh missing from his legs including both of his legs severed, cut off under each knee. Someone had even cut his arms off at the forearm just a little south of his elbows, but what really caught their attention was the fact that this boy could not possibly be human at all. For one he had a tail sticking out of his lower back that had blood red fur with a black tip, his hair and eyes were the same blood red as his tail, however his eyes were also slitted like that of a predator or a demon. He had small but very noticeable fangs, and what appeared to be 'fox ears' attached to the back top his head, rather long ones whose short fur matched the color of his hair. The final thing that they both noticed was the glowing Fuinjutsu seal on the boy's stomach, which almost seemed to be pulsing as if it was doing everything it could to keep the boy alive.

"K...Kakuzu….. I'm not the only one seeing this right?" asked a stunned Hitome.

"No…. you're not…..I'll be damned, it's a Hanyou. Doesn't appear to have much longer though, loathe as I am to say this, but it's probably best if we put him out of his misery and go."

"WHAT!?"

"Unless you can think of a way for us to save the gaki he's going to die, just look at him, hmmmm but that seal on his stomach _is_ interesting… Let's take a closer look at him." sad Kakuzu walking over to inspect the strange boy, already growing suspicious of the child's origins.

"Tch, fine…. But the least we can do is make him comfortable." said a very unhappy Hitome. Not only was she upset over the fact that something like this had happened at all to a child, which was pulling at her motherly instincts. But in her religion those who were half demons were to be celebrated, demons and their half-blooded cousins Hanyous are actually loved by Jashin. It was even in their Tenents of Damnation to aid and protect them, especially the Bijus and whatever offspring they have .

As they approached the him the were stopped by the half naked chunin that was still nailed to the tree near by, "Get away from him, the little demon _deserves_ to die!" he spat out with pure venom. This and the choice words the man had used got the attention of of both Akatsuki as they made their way towards the boy, except for Hitome who made a quick detour towards the Chunin to punch him in the face.

As Kakuzu was examining the boy's body he couldn't help but marvel at the _sheer will to live_ that this boy seemed to possess, it put most _ANBU_ to shame, even reminding him of himself once upon a time. Back when he was still a loyal shinobi of _that village_ , back before he had the jiongu after he had failed in a mission that would change his life. Snapping out of his little lapse of nostalgia he began to inspect the boy's seal, taking into account the child's relative age, where they were, and not only the treatment he had suffered but most importantly _HOW_ the Chunin had spoken about the boy. Coming to the conclusion that this boy just had to be a Jinchuuriki, he figured the child must house the Kyuubi which everyone knew had attacked Konoha 5 years earlier.

Standing up he addressed the Chunin who was in the middle of taking what could only be described as an _epic beating, "_ HEY! Chunin! What is your name?" his voice causing Hitome her assault, wanting some answers herself.

"*Gasp* Huh…..I...I'm called H-Hayate…..G….G-Gekko" rasped the beaten chunin.

"Good I've heard of you, supposed to be a fast rising Leaf shinobi with skills recognized by even the Hokage and said to have one of the most powerful Suiton affinities since the Nindaime Hokage Tobirama Senju. First of all why the fuck did you and these assholes do this to him, and second of all _what is he?"_

"And what's his name too!?" Hitome chimed in as she tried to do what she could for Naruto.

"His name's…..N...N-Naruto Uzumaki… and he's a DEMON!" Hayate answered, screaming out the last part. "The Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi into him on the day of the attack, we had all waited for years for the Hokage to leave so that way we could have our revenge on the little demon spawn. Haha, I suppose it's a good thing Kushina-sensei died from childbirth, this way she never has to see just how much of a monster her son has become." he finished cackling with glee, proud of what he had done.

It was at this moment that the entire area was flooded with an unholy Killing Intent as Hitome now stalked towards the downed chunin ready to rip him to shreds, Kakuzu had other plans however. Grabbing onto her shoulder he spun her around, forcing her to look up at him so he could speak without worrying about her ruining the plan that was being pieced together in his head.

"No Hitome, i've got a better idea." he said gaining a slightly confused look from the woman. Sighing he simply walked over to Hayate and ripped the spike out of his shoulder causing him to fall to the ground, tossing the spike over his shoulder to Hitome he dragged the man till he was lying right alongside Naruto. After checking the boy's pulse to make sure he was just unconscious and not dead, he prepared to do something that he honestly never thought he would _ever do._ " **Kinjutsu- Jiongu**!" he called out while raising his left arm over their bodies, as what looked like thousands upon thousands of thick black threads burst from his forearm and covered the most of the two prone individuals. Hayate soon began to scream as he felt the threads burrow and dig their way into his chest as if trying to grab onto something, he soon figured out what was about to happen as he felt a sharp pain in his heart as the threads wrapped around it. As the pain increased he could feel all of his chakra recede into his heart, his screaming only intensifying before his heart was violently ripped out of his chest, silencing him forever. Kakuzu was not done however as he took the heart that was in the center of a mass of pulsing black threads and began to give it to Naruto, placing it on top of his belly he allowed the Jiongu to do it's job. Naruto's body jerked and writhed silently on the ground as countless threads made their way through his body, becoming one with it, strengthening it, improving it, and most importantly _healing it._

For herself Hitome could only watch as in silent amazement as the Jiongu had almost completely integrated with Naruto's body, reattaching his limbs, stitching up his many scars, even soaking up most of his blood from the ground back into his body. She might not like Kakuzu, she could easily admit that she hates him for the most part, but that did nothing to keep her from respecting him for his skill and experience. Case and point being what she was watching unfold in front of her right now, she may hate the greedy bastard but _dammit he could be impressive as hell when he wants to be._

" _Hmm we're going to have to inform Pein about this new development at some point, preferably after we've reached the safe house in River Country. He should stabilize by then but there's not much point in trying to tell him now while we still need to get out of here, who would have thought we'd get the Kyuubi Jinchuriki this easily?"_ As Kakuzu was thinking this he looked up and noticed that the moon was well past its zenith and it was just starting to get around 0530, they'd need to haul ass if they wanted to make a clean getaway.

Looking over to Hitome he whistled to get her attention as she was busy rooting through the dead Hayate's belongings, "Hitome we're leaving and we're taking the kid, we'll inform Pein that we managed to nab the Kyuubi Jinchuriki after we've made it to the safe house in River County. Prepare to move out."

"Ha! Way ahead of you Kakuzu, just about done here anyways, this idiot had some pretty good jutsu scrolls on him, i've got one for **Shadow Clone Jutsu, Chameleon Jutsu,** some Suiton jutsu, wow this guy even had a scroll on a Kenjutsu style. Does the Tetsu no Ryu sword style mean anything to you?" she asked as she stuffed the scrolls into the inside pockets of her coat.

"Yeah a little." answered Kakuzu as he through the unconscious boy over his shoulder. "Its one of the most famous styles from Iron Country, supposedly the samurai leader Mifune taught it to the White Fang of Konoha…. I never got any confirmation but those were the rumors. Now let's go before we're spotted, I want to be as far away as possible by the time the search parties arrive." And with that they took off with their new charge in tow.

 _Several hours later with the Hokage_

It had been an incredibly productive trip for the aged shinobi, he was able to convince the Daimyo to take Naruto under his personal protection and guidance where he would receive the best education and training possible. The Daimyo had always been a very practical and reasonable man whom Hiruzen had always gotten along with, the fact that they were practically cut from the same cloth helped a bunch too. And the Daimyo agreeing that the boy would be much safer in his care then in Konoha, especially given how most of the villagers reacted to and treated Naruto, now that's not to say anything had happened, _yet._ But the fact still remained that eventually somebody was bound to snap and it'd be better off for everyone if Naruto was away from the village for a few years, one less thing to worry about what with the strange behavior coming from the Uchiha Clan recently. As Hiruzen was walking down the main street to the Hokage Tower being greeted by and greeting passersby, he decided to take a detour to the orphanage so he could check up on Naruto and give him the good news. Honestly he was just too excited to wait any longer than necessary to tell him, the furry little ball of energy always lit up whenever he visited and he couldn't wait to see Naruto's reaction. Ha! The boy would probably be dancing on the ceiling after hearing the good news, and with those happy thoughts in mind he stopped at a local ramen stand owned by the Ichirakus to pick up some to-go ramen. Knowing just how addicted the boy was to ramen he figured why not go the extra mile for him today, he'd always had great respect for the Ichirakus' they were some of the few who had befriended Naruto, let alone treated him right. As he entered the orphanage the first thing he noticed was the way the receptionist had immediately froze in place as he made his way to her, looking like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Especially seeing how _none_ of the staff here had _ever_ reacted this way to his presence before, even if it was unannounced, he watched as he saw an entire multitude of emotions he knew all too well play out on her young face.

"Jihi-chan what's wrong? What's happened?" he asked as a cold pit of fear started to take hold in his stomach. " _Please let everything be alright…"_ he thought desperately as he listened to the now sobbing woman.

"I-I'm sorry Hokage-sama…..b-b-but Naruto's gone. I think someone took h-him last night…*hic* during the festival b-but I just don't know!" said a now sobbing Jihi, a woman who Hiruzen had seen spoil and nurture Naruto rotten plenty of times.

As the words came down on Hiruzen with the force of sledgehammers a new feeling started to boil up from the pit of his stomach, a feeling of pure, unrivaled _rage._ As he struggled not to unleash his KI in the middle of an orphanage it still managed to leak through, as birds fell from the sky and many small rodents and critters throughout the entire village dropped dead.

Steeling himself as best he could, "Show me, NOW." he gritted out, as the young woman saw in front of her the true 'God of Shinobi' she all but jumped to show him Naruto's cot. When they reached it they found that the cot was a mess as if Naruto had been ripped out of it in his sleep, quickly summoning his personal ANBU he gave them quick orders to round up any and all Jounin and ANBU shinobi for a priority one emergency. As the ANBU left to carry out their orders Hiruzen turned to Jihi and ordered her to follow him, without bothering to see if she would comply he stormed off in the direction of the orphanage's Headmistress with Jihi following behind him.

The door to the Headmistress's office was blown off its hinges as Hiruzen stormed in and pulled her across her desk by the throat, lifting her into the air with one hand easily, he promptly threw her across the room into one of the walls.

"Hello Geishi-san I was just in the neighborhood when i decided to stop by and check up on Naruto, imagine my surprise when I learned from Jihi-chan that _apparently_ he had been abducted the last night. Now i think to myself, just who could possibly do that seeing how only you and I have the keys to this building, and not even my ANBU can break in thanks to the security seals. The only conclusion I could come up with was that someone must have either let somebody in, or simply threw Naruto out into the streets!" Hiruzen yelled at the end, as a crowd of children started to form in the hallway outside.

"The ONLY reasons why I'm not killing you right now is because there are _children present_ , and i still need you pumped for information…..besides death is too good for you." he finished as he knocked her out cold. Turning around he addressed the children gathering around,"All of you go to your rooms and remain inside for today, and for now Jihi-chan here is in charge, listen to her or you answer to me."

And with that he stormed out of the orphanage while he dragged an unconscious Geishi-san behind him, taking care to make her head hit every possible surface on the way out. Once outside he saw a growing number of at least +70 shinobi gathered awaiting orders, informing them of the situation he ordered them to comb the village and the surrounding lands of the village in search of Naruto. And for one of them to take the former Headmistress of the orphanage to the T&I department for questioning, by the time he had reached his office in the Hokage Tower and sat down he had all but collapsed. Knowing full well that this was going to be a long day he opened his drawer and took out a bottle of the most expensive and powerful saki in the elemental nations, and downed the entire bottle.

 _The next morning_

As the door to the Hokage's office opened Danzo Shimura, Koharu Utatane, and Mitokado Hamura saw something they truly weren't expecting. The sight that greeted them was a passed out Hiruzen who was face down in his desk snoring out loud with an empty bottle of Mt. Myoboku Sake was still clutched in his hand. Sighing Danzo then said something he hadn't called out since the Second Shinobi War, "Hey is that Biwako naked!?" he called out loudly, causing Hiruzen to jump up in his seat while looking around. A small chuckle escaped his and the others' lips as the entered and shut the door, having enjoyed their brief laugh their Hokage's expense.

Hiruzen for the most part was stuck trying to work out which was worse, his hangover, the fact that he was caught in this state, or the fact that that old trick could still work on him. Then next thing that went through his mind was whether or not he should kill Danzo for it, but he'd get back to that one later, he had shit to do.

"Not a word of this to anyone." he said as he got up and went to the personal bathroom in his office to wash his face and brush his teeth, "So what have they found out?" he called to them.

Hamura then took this time to answer " Well they were able to confirm thanks to some of the shinobi from the Inuzuka and Hyuga clans that young Naruto wasn't in the village within three hours, they then began combing the surrounding lands and forests. Tsume Inuzuka-san and her squad eventually picked up a trail some time after midnight, after regrouping with the company led by Hiashi they followed the trail for a few hours. The trail stopped cold at a little clearing NorthWest of the village along the edge of the Naraka River, some 38 miles away from here where they discovered a bloodbath."

This stopped Hiruzen cold, " _Please….. Oh Kami no…"_ "And?" he asked trying to keep himself together, and barely succeeding.

Utatane sighed deciding to just spit it out, " They found 34 men who were naked, hacked to pieces, and covered in both blood and semen. They confirmed them all to be shinobi from our own village, some were from the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans, even a couple from the Yamanaka clan were there. The majority however were all general Chunins and Jounins, we just got the lab results back confirming all of their identities through blood analysis. All of them were shinobi who had lost loved ones during the Kyuubi Attack, we also found plenty of Naruto's blood as well, it is believed that….. they tortured him and….." she paused, not really being able to say the rest.

"Naruto was raped Hiruzen," finished Danzo, preferring to just get it over with. "The evidence from all of the semen samples that they found at the scene highly suggests that they all took turns, and we even found evidence of another man who raped him. Unfortunately this one was smart and used some kind of jutsu that not only made his semen sterile, but also warps his semen beyond recognition making it impossible to figure out his identity. It was also discovered that this mystery man was not among the deceased nor did he leave any blood around, meaning he escaped the carnage without a scratch." He intoned emotionlessly, silently thankful in his ability to control all of his emotions.

The Hokage slumped into his chair as all of the breath and energy was just taken out of him, he didn't, no he _couldn't believe it._ And now he was missing! As he mentally ranted to himself trying to come to terms with this new information, something clicked in his head that caused his eyes to slowly widen in realization. None of them had mentioned finding Naruto's body, not to mention the fact that there was no way he could have killed all those shinobi by himself, he's only 5 years old for Kami's sake! Quickly schooling his features and getting better control of himself, he silently motioned for them to continue, whilst hoping for _some_ good news.

Koharu then picked it up from there. " With a joint effort between Tsume Inuzuka-san, Lord Hiashi-san, and Tsume-san's ninken Kuromaru they were able to detect and confirm the presence of two other people of unknown origin. The left no DNA or possible evidence behind of where they came from nor where went, most likely using the river as cover. But we did confirm that it was _them_ who killed the mob that raped Naruto, and that they most likely took him with them to an unknown location via the river that was right next to the scene. Hiashi-san and one of his clansmen Ko Hyuuga also noticed that the entire area was saturated with two different demonic chakra signatures, one that they confirmed to belong to both Naruto and the Kyuubi, as their chakra both possess similar signatures. And another one that was completely different from the Kyuubi's, but just as potent and just as old, though we are still trying to confirm if this foreign chakra belonged to another bijuu at all." finally finished with the report she awaited Hiruzen's decision.

Hiruzen stood up and began to pace back and forth while smoking his pipe as he went over what was revealed to him, for one he would have to have the families of everyone in that clearing interrogated. Another he would need to handle the Headmistress of the orphanage personally, naw better to give her to Ibiki. He always did hold a special place in his heart for certain people, he would be ecstatic to have a chance at Geishi, and whoever else was sent his way. Coming to a final decision to for what to do he turned around addressed his old teammates and rival, "Tell all of those who are out there searching to continue sweeping every inch within our borders for Naruto, he's out there somewhere, I want him found...dead or alive we _must_ find him and bring him home. Also there is to be an emergency council meeting in one hour, anyone who doesn't attend will be executed, no exceptions now go, I'll see you all at the meeting."

They nodded understanding that he wished to be alone, and bowed before filling out the door and closing it behind them. As soon as the he heard the door click shut the security seals put up around the office flared to life, completely sealing the room. Hiruzen collapsed on the floor right there and cried, doing the only thing he could at that moment, he cried as he rested his back against the sofa opposite of the wall holding the pictures of the past Kages. He cried as he looked at one photo in particular and silently begged for that man to forgive him, for failing to protect his son, for failing to keep his promise, for failing a boy that he loved as a grandson. He had only cried this hard once in his life, and that was after burying the dead bodies of Minato and Kushina, and his dead wife Biwako. As the pain of those memories came crashing down on him, his whole body shook, causing him to shed even more tears he felt another piece of his heart die.

 _In an unknown location_

The first thing that Naruto felt was warmth, a soft and soothing warmth that wrapped around his entire body comforting him. It was unclear to him what it was but it was unnaturally soft and for some strange reason it made him feel safe, as if nothing could harm him at this moment. As he was softly being lulled back to sleep he heard something that he normally wouldn't have if not for his superb hearing, again he heard it as slowly curiosity made him open his eyes. The first thing he saw was an ocean of reddish orange fur that almost completely wrapped around him, overwhelmed at first it took his young mind several minutes to process what he was seeing. Upon some further inspection he noticed that he was lying on top something, a really really _BIG_ something, as he looked around he discovered that he was lying in a mess of multiple tails. One which had acted as a bed while the other was covering him for warmth, as he followed where the led he saw that there were several more that were all connected to what looked like a giant fox. The fox in question seemed to have two of it's huge tails covering it's face while it appeared to be _crying into them? "That's not right, big monsters aren't supposed to cry are they?"_ wondered Naruto.

Getting down from his little perch he made his way toward where the fox's head was located, as walked he was able to get an idea of how massive the creature was especially since it took him a few good minutes to even get to where it's head was. Mustering up all of his courage he reached up and gently tugged on the tip of one of the fox's ears to get it's attention, "Ummmmm excuse me mister fox, could you please tell me where I am and who you are?" asked Naruto having remembered from Old Man Jiji about being polite.

For some reason this caused the fox to start bawling as it suddenly scooped up Naruto and started to nuzzle him against it's cheek, before finally speaking. "I'm so sooooorrrrrrrryyyyyy Naruto!" And with that short sentence it began to bawl even harder as Naruto, who was completely shocked for the most part, could only try and comfort the gigantic fox by petting it's brow while it's tails wrapped around them both. After a while of comforting the fox which had devolved into a big ball of fur and misery for a while, it finally showed signs of life as it slowly began to pull itself together. Which was good for Naruto because he was really starting to get tired from constantly scratching and rubbing all over its head and ears, finally being able to look at the boy, it shamefully opened its red slitted eyes to look at the boy.

In a very broken voice it finally spoke, " H...Hello Naruto, it's nice to finally see you in person for a change." It said in a rumbling but clearly feminine voice. " My name is Kurama, but you may know me by my title as Kyuubi, the Nine Tailed Fox. I'm so sorry Naruto, I never wanted for any of this to happen, I never wanted for you to suffer for what I had done." Kurama paused, trying to steady her breath as she continued to speak, " I know you have a lot of questions such as what i'm talking about, and many more, but I need you to wait till I'm done speaking okay?" she asked, hoping the boy would listen.

"O…..Okay Kurama-chan….." replied a very shocked Naruto, having not expected any of this.

Lightly blushing at the 'chan' suffix Kurama continued, " Five years ago on the day that you were born someone had attacked your mother and father, having waited only a handful of minutes after your were born before using you to get to your mother. This man wore a spiraled orange mask, and had captured your mother, the woman i was sealed inside of before you-"

"HOLD UP A SECOND, WHAT!? You were in my mother!? And now you're in ME? And what's sealed mean anyway!?" Interrupted Naruto, not being able to help himself.

"Hush!" Kurama scolded while lightly bopping Naruto on the head with the tip of one of her tails.

Having the decency to look embarrassed, Naruto 'zipped his lips shut', prompting Kurama to continue. "Ahem, while i understand you have a lot of questions i suppose i can start with those before I continue with my story, otherwise you won't understand anything else. Now in order: Yes I was sealed inside of your mother, but that originally happened when she was around 9 years old. Second is that on the day of your birth I ended up being sealed into _you,_ I have literally been with you all of your life and have seen everything that has gone on with you. And finally to be sealed into something is like…." Kurama paused suddenly finding it very difficult to explain to a 5 year old just _what_ the most powerful and complicated of the Shinobi Arts actually was.

"Hmmmmm you know how all of those ninja in your village can do all of those 'cool jutsu' Naruto?" she asked receiving an excited nod from the boy. "Well _sealing_ or _Fuinjutsu_ is the most difficult but also the most powerful of all the Shinobi Arts, trust me, you can do a lot more with it than you can with Ninjutsu."

Gobsmacked Naruto couldn't help it as a look of awe crossed his face, _"You can do more with it then Ninputsu! That's soooo coooooooool!"_ he mentally ranted as he looked back up at the Kyuubi who had an almost amused look on her face.

"Now on with the story and no more interruptions this time!" Kurama said receiving a quick nod. "Now as I was saying I was sealed inside of your mother when she was just a little older than you, but before that I had been originally sealed inside of your great-grandmother. Whose name was Mito Uzumaki, wife of the Shodaime Hokage, and before you say anything don't ask why because that's a story for another time." she said quickly gaining a cute pout from the child, chuckling she continued. "Now when a your mother was pregnant the seal that held me inside of her was weakened, it became very weak when she gave birth to you. But something happened, your mother and father attacked by a man who wore a orange spiral mask. He was an Uchiha because i was able to sense that from inside the seal, and it was confirmed when your father fought him too. He used you so he could get to your mother and forcefully release me from the seal, as soon as I was out he used his Sharingan to take control over me before I could even do anything."

Pausing to recollect the events Naruto decided to ask "Was it because of him that you killed all those people? And did all those bad things the other villagers said you did?"

Looking away in shame Kurama could only nod her head in shame, she may be a demon but having to answer for such things to any child is incredibly difficult. Sighing she looked back down at Naruto, "Yes, the moment I was free I didn't have the time to even blink before i was brought under his control. He got the drop on me like a pro, by the time i was away of anything was when I was being sealed into you Naruto. I've been watching over you ever since, and I've felt all of your pain from inside of the seal too."

Suddenly understanding what it was she meant, a wave of painful memories of what had recently happened to him came rushing back with the subtlety of a tidal wave. Gasping and blinking back tears, he asked. "So…...you saw everything that happened right?" Gaining a nod. "Why?" Came the small reply, which he asked so softly only Kurama could have heard it. "WHY!? WHY DID THAT HAPPEN TO ME!? IS IT BECAUSE I LOOK DIFFERENT!? OR AM I REALLY JUST A MONSTER LIKE THEY ALL SAID!?" Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs as waves of emotions crashed over him, driving him to collapse on the ground as he cried. Momentarily shocked by the emotional outburst Kurama quickly picked him up with her tails and wrapped herself around Naruto, trying her best to comfort the small kit as he balled his eyes out in an attempt to come to terms with what he had experienced. Knowing this wasn't going to end soon, Kurama quickly got herself comfortable as she did her best to help the distraught child.

 _In a hidden base somewhere in River Country_

Both Akatsuki members were both resting on the only remaining couch that the sparse hideout had to offer, as they both looked over to the source of their exhaustion. After they had saved the little brat they had to haul ass out of there and used a lot of their chakra and stamina, to run the rest of the of the way to their hidden base here. Needless to say even for a pair of S rank criminals that's exhausting, as they lay there looking at the…..demon child….for lack of better term was looking A LOT better. Which was surprising given how the boy looked after Kakuzu had given him the Jiongu, at the rate his body was healing it'd only be another day or so and he'd probably make a full recovery.

Getting up from with a groan Kakuzu looked over to address his partner, "Come on Hitome we need to inform the others about this, the sooner we get this over with the sooner we can rest ourselves."

Nodding in agreement Hitome rose from the couch and both looked to the rings on their respective hands, pulsing chakra in a specific pattern into them they waited for the response from their leader. Not having to wait long for a response, they both closed their eyes as they felt their consciousnesses were pulled from their bodies. Opening their eyes they saw they were now in a dark cave with a large statue whose hands were chained in the background, now in as corporeal holograms, they looked around to see the others that were there. The holograms provided few visual details as to what the others looked like, except for their outlines and general physiques, the only other thing that showed were the eyes.

As Kakuzu and Hitome took note that everyone was there, they looked to their leader who soon spoke. " Kakuzu...Hitomi, why have you called for an emergency meeting? This had better be important." he said.

It was Hitome who spoke first, " Yes Pein-sama, we called this meeting because something big happened while me and Kakuzu-baka were traveling through Fire Country to reach our base here in River Country."

"Oh really? And what could that have been?" Asked one of the taller figures there, a man who was clearly as big as Kakuzu and appeared to have some kind of large sword on his back.

"We were getting to that Kisame," growled Kakuzu. "Me and Hitome had gotten into Fire Country just fine and were about halfway through when we got to a certain part near the Naraka River, hearing a bunch of loud men we decided to investigate. We found a clearing on the other side of the river from where we stood, there we saw a group of 34 naked men cheering on whoever was in the middle of them. It appeared to us at first that we had stumbled on a massive male orgy most of them were drunk, and some had even broken off into pairs to…fool around." he finished with obvious disgust in his voice.

"Is that it?" asked a hunched over bulky figure, "Did you really call us here because you were disturbed with what you saw?" The figure asked, anger evident in his voice. He _hated it_ when people wasted his time.

"Kukuku now now Sasori calm down, I'm sure that is now all to this story." replied a slender individual who had long hair and snake like yellow eyes.

"Silence all of you, let them continue with their report." their leader intoned, silencing the others.

"Thankyou Pein-sama" Hitome said picking up where Kakuzu had left off. " Anyways we were about to leave when we heard something that made us stop and look back, one of them had cheered out to the man in the middle to 'show that little brat who's boss Fugaku-sama'." she paused allowing her words to sink in, causing most of the others to stiffen, knowing full well what it was she was saying.

After a moment she continued " After we turned around we were able to see that Fugaku Uchiha, Clan Head of the Uchiha Clan, and one other Chunin who we later discovered was named Hayate Gekko were both raping a 5 year old boy." After saying this a collective amount of killing intent was released from all of those present, sure they all might be criminals but even they had standards.

"What…..the FUCK!?" Snarled Kisame

"And here I thought that worm could sink no lower.." seethed Orochimaru, something that gained more than a few raised eyebrows from those present. It would appear that the man who was dubbed a mad scientist for his inhuman experiments on people, children included, had certain boundaries. Who'd have guessed?

"Yes." Kakuzu replied venomously. " After we discovered what had really been going on we quickly slaughtered them all, save for that child raping bastard Fugaku, he saw us cutting through the men there and ran as soon as we struck. The Chunin Hayate got pinned to a tree by Hitome's pike while we dealt with the rest, after it was all over we took a look at the child, his arms and legs were severed off just below the knees and elbows. He was skinned, burned, had chunks of flesh missing and at least a dozen broken bones, it was a miracle he was even alive at that point. But what truly shocked us was that he isn't even human, the fool Hayate even warned us to 'stay away from demon' and that 'it deserves to die.'

'What do you mean Kakuzu?" asked the only other woman there.

This time Hitome answered " What he means Konan-chan is that the boy is a Hanyou, or a half-demon." she said shocking the others, except Orochimaru who was now suspicious.

"Wait a minute," Orochimaru interjected gaining everyone's' attention. "Did this boy have blood red hair and eyes, that were slitted like like mine? As well as fox ears and tail, both the color of his hair?"

"How do you know that?" asked Kakuzu narrowing his eyes at the man.

"Who do think was even allowed in the same room as him, let alone supposed to protect him when he was just an infant?" Orochimaru said crossing his arms, "I and only a handful of others were trusted to protect him after the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, not even two full days after he was born there was an attempt on his life. During a council meeting where the Hokage addressed the council to inform them of what had happened and what was going on he showed the boy you spoke of, Naruto Uzumaki i think his name was, one of the civilian council members snapped and stabbed him. Right where the seal holding the Kyuubi was….." he finished much to the shock of the others.

"So…..that would explain how the child became a Hanyou, the demon must have done something in order to save the boy from that attempt on the boy's life." intoned Pein, having gotten over the shock of the news.

"Yes, I wasn't around for longer than 2 years after that incident though so i can't give anymore information than that I'm afraid. Well…... that and the fact that little Naruto is the son of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage." said Orochimaru chuckling at the gobsmacked looks on everyone else's faces.

"Hmmmm the Sandaime must have kept the child's identity a secret so as to protect him," said Kisame once he recovered," not that it did a whole lot of good though…."

"No it didn't" replied Kakuzu. "The Chunin Hayate even confirmed for us before I killed him that Naruto in fact _is_ the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, and he did say that he was the son of Kushina as well. But still, even being a jinchuuriki and having demonic healing has it's limits though because we could see that he was dying. What he endured…..was just too much for his body to handle as what was left of him was shutting down quickly. I had to give him the Jiongu while using Hayate's heart in order to save him, we now have him resting on the couch here in the base." having finished he waited to see what the others, especially their leader would want to do.

The other members looked to their leader who was contemplating what to make of this, on one hand he had a perfect opportunity to obtain the Kyuubi, but on the other hand they were nowhere near ready to perform the ritual. Besides they had to wait to seal the Kyuubi last otherwise they would destroy the Gedo Mazo statue, what to do? As Pein thought of the child he began to see that maybe the boy could be made their ally, they could train him since he was already old enough to begin. He has already suffered more than most people _ever_ will, the boy knew more about pain than perhaps even himself, and there is also the fact that he's not even _human_. Of all the things this child could be, a _Hanyou_ , _a half-demon,_ if the Akatsuki were to train him and make him powerful then not only would they gain a _VERY_ powerful ally, but he would almost definitely survive the extraction ritual. Naruto could become as strong as himself and be utterly loyal to him and the Akatsuki, after all, why wouldn't he be loyal to the ones who saved him, clothed him, and made him an unbeatable shinobi? Plus the promise of revenge on the village responsible for what he went through would help, who wouldn't want revenge?

Finally coming to a decision he spoke, " I have come to a decision, this child is special, he has suffered more than most of us have, and truly has nothing right now except for the will to live. He holds the Kyuubi inside of him and will no doubt be able to access it's chakra at some point, but not only that he is a Hanyou. Something that _no one_ has ever seen before, if we were to take him in now, we could mould him into an unstoppable weapon, loyal to us and us alone. He would have _every reason_ to trust us and be indebted to us, becoming an invaluable ally that the Five Great Villages would never see coming. And best of all is that he is almost guaranteed to survive the extraction ritual due to him being a Hanyou, we wouldn't even need to worry about losing him later on at all. So i have decided that we shall keep him alive and train him into a powerful shinobi, one worthy of our ranks. Therefore since it was you two who saved him and brought him to us, it shall be up to you two to look after him, you shall begin at once and I expect reports on his progress regularly. You shall be sent everything you could need to train him and take care of him, weapons supplies, jutsu scrolls, whatever you need you shall have it." he paused allowing Kakuzu and Hitomi to absorb everything he was saying.

"Great…..so basically you want us to be glorified _babysitters!?"_ snarled Kakuzu not liking this at all, he may have some respect for the brat, but this was the LAST thing he wanted to do.

"SERIOUSLY!? Jashin DAMMIT!" swore a very pissed off Hitome, who then went on a very colorful rant, leaving no doubt as to how she felt.

"ENOUGH!" ordered Pein as a wave of KI flooded the room. "You will do as i have instructed, I don't care if you like it or not, but you _will_ do as you are told! Otherwise you shall both feel the wrath of God, I expect you to raise and train this child and that is _FINAL! Understood!?"_

The room was tense as Kakuzu and Hitome glared up at their so called 'leader', neither of them wanted to have to deal with a kid. But this wasn't really something worth getting into a fight with Pein over, both knowing that if it came to blows they might now be able to beat him as they were right now.

Finally it was Hitome who answered first "Tch…..fine…. We'll take care of the brat for now, but we ain't spending long here in this damn hole, we still have shit we gotta do."

"We'll spend a couple of months here training him in the basics," said Kakuzu. "We'll make sure that he gets training while we travel, or when me and Hitome are on mission. But after we've drilled him on all of the basics we WILL be returning to our duties, consequences be DAMNED."

Pein took a moment to think the situation over, normally he wouldn't tolerate such disrespect to a God such as himself, but they do have a point still. Even he can't actually expect a pair of S rank criminals to spend all of their time raising a child of all things, besides their organization still needs to acquire funds if they are to proceed with their goals. And these two ARE the ones who have made a majority of the organization's funds so far, they would need to return work at some point soon, they couldn't afford NOT TO.

"Very well" he said after some time. "But I expect results, and if you are to be taking him with you then you better make the most out of every mission with him. The experience will be invaluable to his education, try to teach him in the most efficient way you can, so as to speed up his training. The sooner you train him to an acceptable level, the sooner you can return to your regular duties."

After receiving nods from the two Akatsuki, Pein then decided it was time to bring the meeting to a close seeing no other reason for it to go on any longer. "If that is all then this meeting is adjourned, the rest of you continue with your current assignments, and let me know of any important developments." And with that he disappeared, as the others canceled the jutsu that was keeping them their so too did Kakuzu and Hitomi.

 _Back in the base in River Country_

As the two Akatsuki opened their eyes they both looked to each other and shared a groan, both knowing that the next few years were going to grate on their nerves to no end. They both _hated kids_ , having always found them annoying as all hell just to be around, how the hell did that idiot expect them to _raise one?_ Silently cursing fate for being a cruel bitch, they looked over to see that Naruto was still out cold on the sofa where they had left him. Seeing that he was still covered in filth that was starting to seep onto the couch the both looked to one another, as if on some unspoken communication, they both raised their fists up into the air.

"ROCK...PAPER...SCISSORS...SHOOT!" they both cried in unison while showing the other which one they had chose. Kakuzu laughed as Hitome let out a string of curses having lost, not wanting to have to be the one to wash the brat up, hopefully there would be _some_ hot water left for her at the end.

"Grrr…. Dammit I can't believe I lost again, well fine if I'm going to be the one to do it then we're jumping in the shower FIRST! This way I can just get it over with before he ruins the sofa!"

"Tch….the reason why you always lose is because you ALWAYS choose ROCK. And I don't care if you go first with the boy, I just don't want to be the one who cleans him up." replied Kakuzu as he sat back down on the couch.

"Yep! Ahhhh good ol' ROCK!"said Hitome as she kissed her fist. Picking up Naruto she threw him over her shoulder and headed into the bathroom, silently plotting to use up all the hot water just to spite Kakuzu. Hey, she had to clean up a VERY dirty brat, AND herself, what's a girl to do right?

 **End of Chapter 1**

 **Okay, so to all those who read this, please let me know what you thought of the story. I'm going to try to make sure that not only is it fun to read but also easy to read as well, like I said before this is going to be a very long story. I'm not going to be doing any short chapters at all,this chapter alone was over 15,700 words, and i'm thinking about making that the average length of each chapter. I actually spent about 4 months thinking up this whole story and writing down a basic outline of how the story was going to go, to finding entire lists of Jutsus, Tai and Kenjutsu styles, weapons, you name it. I also spent a bit of time revamping how a lot of the other characters are going to be, hell just wait and see what happens to Hinata, not to mention a bunch of the other Konoha 11.**

 **Now in case I didn't make this clear before, this is obviously going to be rated M throughout the entire story, and is going to be very graphic. Everything from the violence to the eventual sex scenes are all going to be graphic, but those sexy scenes aren't going to come till just a little bit later. The first few chapters are going to have a lot to do with Naruto's development, the fallout from his disappearance in Konoha, and his metamorphosis into into an unstoppable force.**

 **There is a reason why I wanted Kakuzu and Hitomi to be stuck with Naruto in the first place, now that they have to basically raise him, they can turn him into the perfect killer. Kakuzu is 72 years old right now, which is actually going in line with the tv series. I checked his age online when he died and counted back to when i wanted the story to start, but still he is 72 years old and in his prime. He actually has MORE experience than even the 3rd Hokage Hiruzen, which is saying something, not only that but he is a master of all forms of elemental ninjutsu. So you can bet that Naruto is going to benefit greatly from his tutelage, even if it is cruel and unusual.**

 **Now I changed Hidan's gender as well as a few other things about him for multiple reasons, while in the animated series and mangas, he was still a threat to a lot of people, he was always a berserker. I didn't like that the ONLY IMMORTAL IN THE ENTIRE NARUTOVERSE… was basically an idiot and a one-trick-pony. So I made several 'improvements' to 'Hitomi', making her someone who's truly worthing of S rank status, who DOESN'T just rely on that damn Curse Jutsu of hers. See ever since I got married I actually learned a lot about women and how they think from my wife, how they see things that we men almost never even notice. How they think in ways we men don't ever consider, while we go left, women go right. Women are of course naturally smarter and develop earlier than men for a reason, it's so they can better compliment us men and 'be our missing rib'. I'm not making this shit up folks, i've actually seen the research firsthand. Sooooo yeah Hitomi is going to be a sexy badass, who mastered damn near every weapon imaginable before she settled on her favored Triple-bladed Scythe. She's going to know Katon, Futon, and MANY different Kinjutsus, I'm going to be doing some research into voodoo spells and curses so that way I can come up with some fucked up shit that Hitomi can dish out. I'm talking that DARK MAGIC shit that makes Orochimaru look tame, but if you guys have any ideas please feel free to let me know. Cause i'm seriously drawing a blank on that right now.**

 **Now there are actually going to be A LOT of different pairings, multiple harems for different reasons, and Naruto, Kakuzu and Hitomi are going to end up joining Kumo when Naruto just turned 11. There in Kumo Naruto will meet what will eventually become his very own Genin Team in the future, he will meet and train with Yugito Nii, and Killer Bee. Eventually he's going to become family to them with the Raikage A and Killer B being his older brothers and Yugito being and older sister, he becomes friends with Karui, Omoi, and Samui as well.**

 **Because of what happened to Naruto Konoha is going to change BIG TIME, Hiruzen is going to remind everyone why he's the God of Shinobi, and really take control of things. Which will lead to certain things such as how the Shinobi Academy is run being revamped, to produce higher quality shinobi, and how the village in general is going to be run. Hiruzen is also going to crack down on his Jounins and ANBU, putting them through the wringer, and forcing them to step it up and become even better at what they do(QUE THE TORTURE/TRAINING FROM HELL). HINT: This is also going to have an effect on Danzo, who's seeing all of this unfold.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Akuma Sannin**

 **Ok so first off thanks for the reviews guys it means alot to me that yall like the story since this is the first time I've done a Fanfic. So anyways in this chapter you're going to see the Sandaime Hiruzen Sarutobi just go off on EVERYONE, basically that loving grandfather image that everyone knows died…...and what Konoha has left is one of the most powerful men to have ever lived, running the village, feeling like he was just robbed of a grandson in the WORST OF WAYS IMAGINABLE. If losing his wife was a huge kick in the ass, then losing Naruto was simply the straw that broke the camel's back…..and got A LOT of people killed. So it ain't gonna be good time to be in Konoha for a while, Naruto is going meet two of the most notorious serial killers in history! Yay! Also he's going to decide to never be vulnerable or weak ever again, and given the searing hatred for people in general that he now has, let's just say Naruto and Hitome are going to have something in common. Cough..cough...Jashin!..cough. This chapter will also go over the initial meeting that he has with certain people like Kurama(fem Kyuubi), and the sweet sweet sweet wonders of alcohol…...lolz he's gonna get fuuuuuuuucked up! XD Just wait you'll see. Also I'll be giving you all an update as to pairings and harems and who all will be involved with each other, NEXT CHAPTER.**

Konoha Council Room

The room was tense was all of the Councilmen and women present, although only a small portion of the Shinobi Council knew what was going on those who did know were remaining tight lipped. What had everyone else silently chattering to one another was that something bad had happened, the reason why because even most of the civilians throughout the village noticed the mass of Jounins running through the city. The problem being that these are Jounins who are the elite of their forces, trained to be stealthy and fight entire wars out of public eyes, but all throughout yesterday people were seeing them running at top speed all over the village! As they all waited for their leader to arrive many were now openly speculating what it could be when they all froze, as a large amount of KI was felt by everyone there. As both of the Civilian and Shinobi Councils could feel the source of the KI actually get closer to them, even a few of the Shinobi Councilmen had started to sweat, as the door opened they could see their leader the Sandaime walk in. For the civilians there this was a first as many of them had ever seen the Hokage like this before, for the Shinobi Council however they were almost all collectively thinking the same thing as the elderly leader made his way to his seat. "The Kami no Shinobi is back."

That's what most of them were thinking as a certain Uchiha Clan Head was mentally thanking his ability to keep a killer poker face, " _Kami, I haven't seen that old man like this in years. Hopefully that jutsu worked the way it was supposed to, but let's face it, if they were able to find out that I was involved I'd be dead by now."_ Fugaku thought as he kept up his facade of a 'concerned Clan Head', as Hiruzen sat down he placed on his desk a folder filled to the brim with documents, knitting his fingers together in front of his face and resting his elbows on the desk he looked at everyone present. As he quietly wondered if any of those gathered were responsible for Naruto's fate he took time to study everyone's face, their posture, whatever 'tells' they might reveal to suggest any guilt, and their body language. Taking all of it in for several minutes as he came to the conclusion, that he'd need to tell them all what had happened and watch their responses if he wanted to catch anyone.

Sighing to himself he he reigned in his KI before speaking, "I know that many of you are unaware of what has transpired and that only a handful of you know what happened, so to those who don't know let me fill you in on what's going on. As I arrived in the village early yesterday morning from my trip to the capital I had decided to go and visit our Jinchuuriki Naruto-kun, however on arriving at the orphanage I received some very disturbing news. The receptionist and personal assistant to the Headmistress, Jihi Ichiraku broke down sobbing and confessed that Naruto-kun was missing, that she didn't know where he was or if he had been taken." pausing to let his words sink in he carefully swept his gaze across the room, noting without surprise as most of the civilians appeared slightly happy with the news.

The Shinobi Council however were a different story altogether as they all seemed to have the appropriate response on their faces, they all knew _exactly_ what it means for _any_ village to lose it's Jinchuuriki. Jinchuuriki are a major part of the village's military power, a highly trained shinobi with the ability to wield and control the abilities and chakra of incredibly powerful demons, any of them can easily be classified as an S Rank threat on sheer principle. For one to go _missing_ is not good at all, it can mean any number of things from being murdered to worse, being abducted, if that was the case then anyone would be able to brainwash Naruto into attacking the village!

Feeling that he had given them enough time he continued, "After Jihi-san confirmed this for me by showing me Naruto-kun's bed, I made my way to the Headmistresses' office to question her, I had immediately suspected her involvement for multiple reasons. One being that she and I are the only two people with keys to gain entry into the orphanage, and another because I had Jaraiya put his best seals all over the orphanage ensuring that it would be one of the safest places in the entire village. Not even my best ANBU or Jounins are capable of breaking in which lead me to believe one of two scenarios, either an incredibly skilled and powerful shinobi managed to _break into a building as secure as my own office_ , or somebody threw Naruto outside in the middle of the night." he finished as retrieved his pipe from his robes and began to load it with his favorite tobacco, snapping his fingers while moulding chakra he created a small candle flame at the tip of his pointer finger.

After lighting up his pipe he took a few deep puffs before he decided to continue, "After I gave the Headmistress over to the ANBU to take to Ibiki I instructed the Jounin and ANBU forces gathered outside the orphanage to begin searching the entire village and the surrounding lands. I did not receive a report back till earlier this morning," said Hiruzen between puffs. "Apparently after confirming that he wasn't in the village at all my shinobi began to scout the surrounding lands when Tsume-san and Hiashi-san's squad picked up Naruto's trail, the trail took the entire force some 38 miles NorthWest of the village. They wound up at some little clearing right next to the Naraka River where they found a literal bloodbath, they discovered the corpses of 34 men all of whom were our own shinobi and that Naruto was not among them. The men they found dead were almost all completely naked with their clothes discarded on the ground, and they were all covered in their own blood and semen." he said as his KI began to leak out once more. "It was eventually concluded that everyone of them had undoubtedly tortured and raped Naruto, it was confirmed through blood and crime scene analysis that this entire event must have occurred the other night and lasted several hours." opening up the folder in front of him, he took another puff of his pipe before continuing. "In this folder are the names of all of those men who were found dead, some of them belonged to the Uchiha, the Hyuuga, the Yamanaka, and Tengu clans while the rest were mostly from regular shinobi and civilian families. It was also discovered that not only was there another person there present who partook in Naruto's rape, but he used some strange Jutsu to sterilize himself and warp his DNA beyond recognition, meaning we were not able to identify him."

After saying this his eyes began to sweep around the room once more as he glared holes into everyone's skulls, his KI steadily rising, his eyes once more taking in everything as he tried to find _any_ looks of guilt or relief. Meanwhile Fugaku could only school his features as best he could as he was currently doing his absolute best to look innocent, he couldn't afford to appear like he didn't care, and he certainly couldn't let any positive emotions show. It'd be pretty awkward to try and explain him smiling or appearing relieved at this point and time, Kami forbid if he let himself look even _remotely guilty._ " _Ha! Sorry you old fool but you're not going to be catching me up that easily, thanks to my variant of the anti-pregnancy jutsu you'll never be able to pin it to me. Hell the jutsu doesn't even have a name yet, but damn is it useful. Now all I have to do is keep up appearances like I'm actually disgusted or appalled, and lay low for a few months."_ As Fugaku thought this he saw Hiruzen's eyes sweep over him, he knew that right now even a single twitch out of character would arouse the old man's suspicion, and with the dead clansmen of his that were found at the scene he _would_ have to answer for why they were there in the first place. As this was going on a plan slowly began to form in Fugaku's mind, a plan of how he could continue to get away with what he had done. He _is_ the head of the Military Police Force in the village, a force made up almost entirely of his clan, some Inuzukas and Hyuugas. If he were to discreetly send out Shadow Clones at night, he could create as many different alibis as he needs, they could cover for him while he continues to have his _fun._ He remembered what it felt like to have absolute power over that little brat, forcing him to do whatever he wished, he wanted more of that power. The more he thought about it the more he began to remember his favorite part of that night when he and Hayate had gotten around to their third turn, after Hayate had thrown the demon on it's back and entered him, Fugaku had decided to instead get behind Hayate. Even now he could still remember how tight the younger man's ass was, he had initially protested at first, but given his position and their difference in strength there was little he could do. Unlike with Naruto, Fugaku was merciful and gave Hayate a minute to adjust before he began thrust his hips inside of the young Chunin, the sheer force of his thrusts sending Hayate's dick in and out of Naruto. As he thought of how intoxicating that rush of power was having the both of them beneath him, as if he was screwing them both at the same time, he couldn't help the erection that came with his impure thoughts. Keeping his features schooled and not slipping up, he thought of how he managed to make _both_ of them moan just for him, one thing was for sure, he was _not_ done by a long shot

As he thought of this he knew he would be playing a dangerous game, Hiruzen was no fool, and he would undoubtedly have an eye on him for some time as the investigation continued. Afterall Fugaku was in a perfect position to see and handle all possible evidence given his position, and appear completely innocent. As they eyes of his 'leader' moved away from him and the others sitting near him he just _knew_ he had gotten away with the other night, unlike those other fools, he had made _damn sure_ that he had an airtight alibi. It's very easy to do for a committing a crime if you make a habit over several months prior of _working long hours_ , then hardly anyone questions you when you don't come home till late at night…..or the next morning. Having spent the last 7 months 'investigating' a series of rapes all around the village, all of which he was able to get away with thanks to the nifty little jutsu he invented, if he wasn't under pressure to look innocent right now…..he'd laugh. He'd laugh his Kami damned head off right then and there.

As this was going on in another part of the room Tsume Inuzuka, Matriarch of the Inuzuka Clan, was currently doing everything she could to calm her husband Okami down. Her husband being the current Clan Head of the Inuzuka's had returned late last night from another of his S Rank missions, being the head of the Hunter Division, he had certain jobs that could keep him away for months and he hadn't had as much time to calm down as his wife. He was one of the only people to combine Elemental Ninjutstu with their clan techniques, not only that but with the help of them Sandaime he had even mastered all 5 forms of elemental manipulation. All of which he was able to blend perfectly into any of the clan jutsus that he had mastered, he even came up with several new ways for clansmen and women to fight with their ninken partners. Being able to cover all sorts of ranges and scenarios that many simply weren't capable of before now, who would expect a large dog to spit out Suiton or Katon Jutsus? And the best part was that none of them could be copied or picked apart as they didn't require hand seals for the most part, just pure elemental and shape manipulation were needed. Okami was always a pleasant if intense person at times, and like all Inuzukas valued family highly, but one of the things that always enraged Okami was the thought of _anyone_ hurting a child. Which was one of the reasons why when he became Clan Head, he made it a policy that anyone in the Academy was to be trained into the ground to ensure their survival later on. Something that attracted Tsume to him almost instantly, she had always wanted a strong pack leader, but also one who would happily die just to protect the pups, something that garnered much respect from the others in the clan as well. So for most of the meeting had been squeezing his poor wife's hand as he silently snarled at what the Sandaime had told the council, he was overjoyed when he heard that the men that were found were slaughtered, but that quickly changed when he heard that one escaped.

As the Inuzuka Clan Head was trying to contain his rage Fugaku stood up to speak. "Hokage-sama is there any chance that this person may be the same serial rapist that we've been tracking for months?" he asked with a very grim look on his face.

Looking over to him Hiruzen replied, "Why yes Fugaku-san, now that you mention it there is a possible chance that they are one and the same. I hadn't thought of that, thankyou, because it certainly does match that bastard's M.O. Hmmmmmm, stop by my office later this evening with whatever files you have from your investigation, we'll compare notes to what was found last night." he said glad that Fugaku had pointed that out, that particular nuisance had been escaping and eluding capture for several months now, who knows they just might be able to nail him.

As Okami was watching the exchange he had to admit that Fugaku _did_ make a valid point, if that serial rapist was involved, then he might actually be even more clever than they previously thought. Which would make him that much more of a threat because he was obviously a shinobi, it wasn't just civilians he had targeted. He had targeted plenty of Kunoichi and even some of the younger male Shinobi, usually freshly minted Chunins, meaning he was definitely smart and powerful enough to take his prefered prey _and_ elude capture. As Okami was thinking about this his nose caught something very faint in the air, curious he lightly sniffed the air before he froze. " _These are male hormones...and…..i can faintly smell male semen! What?! Hmmmm it's very fresh to *sniff *sniff…..Fugaku?"_ he thought as he glanced over at Fugaku who had already sat back down. " _Why would he be giving off hormones right now of all times? And what's worse, what could he possibly be thinking about that would cause him have pre-ejaculate in his pants?"_ He silently wondered as he continued to listen to what the Sandaime had to say, " _I'll inform Hiruzen about this later, for all i know he could just be thinking about his wife or something."_ he thought as he focussed his attention back on the Hokage.

Hiruzen then picked up where he left off, "Yes while we can't identify the missing assailant at this time that is not all that was found, it was confirmed that Naruto was apparently saved by at least 2 high level shinobi. They slaughtered all of them in under a minute judging from where all of the bodies were lying, and we know for sure that they took Naruto with them. Whether or not Naruto is alive is unknown at this time, the only other thing that they found was something that Hiashi-san and one of his clansmen Ko noticed. Not only was then entire clearing saturated in Naruto's and the Kyuubi's residual chakra, but there was a third demonic chakra source there as well, one that appeared to be just as old if not older than even the Kyuubi's chakra." he finished as he finally sat back down.

The entire room was speechless at after that last bit of information was revealed, the civilians present couldn't comprehend how anything could be older than the Kyuubi, let alone any of the other Bijuu because even they knew that the Bijuu were ancient. The Shinobi Council however were all collectively shitting bricks, anything that was as old or even older than _any_ of the Bijuu can NOT be good.

As the councilmen and women were talking to one another about what could possibly be that old besides another Bijuu, Danzo decided to speak up. "What shall happen now Hiruzen?" he simply asked, a very plain question that was to the point. He was one of the few who could even get away with addressing Hiruzen by his name, let alone dare to try, sensing that there was more to this meeting he wanted to know what his old friend and rival would do.

"I'm glad you asked Danzo because as of this moment this village is going to be under Martial Law." Hiruzen said as he stood back up and allowed his KI to flare once again. " All rights be they civilian or shinobi are hereby suspended till further notice, no one shall be allowed in or out of the village, and a village wide curfew is going to be in effect as of tonight. All those who are found breaking any of the rules are going to be punished swiftly and _severely,_ the families of those responsible for what has happened to Naruto Uzumaki are to be detained and interrogated by any and all means necessary. The houses and dwellings of those families are going to searched top to bottom for any and all possible evidence that might be incriminating, all Clan privileges are also suspended till further notice. ANYONE who does not comply completely or even attempts to get in the way will be summarily executed where they stand, this village has steadily grown cancerous, and I _will_ stamp it out once and for all." having finished his declaration he flooded the Council Room, the building, and the entire village with his Killing Intent. "Are there any objections?" he quarried already knowing the answer, taking their silence as a 'no' he swiftly left the council room and headed to his office.

As Hiruzen arrived at his office his Danzo, Koharu, Homura, Jounin Commander Shikaku Nara and his ANBU Commander Ryu were already there waiting for him along with a tall man with spiky white hair, what appeared to be kabuki attire, and a horned headband with the kanji for 'Oil' on it.

"It's good that you two are already here, and it's good to see you again so soon Jaraiya-kun, I can't tell you how sorry I am that we need to meet under such circumstances."

"Save it old man right now we got more important things to do….it's good to see you too sensei." the now identified Jaraiya said, a very uncharacteristic grim look on his normally jovial face.

"Ahem, Hokage-sama if I may" Shikaku interjected.

"Yes of course, to business then." Hiruzen said.

"Ok from what the scouts have said they were able to pick up the scent again farther west where the river ends, and from there it continued west into northern River Country." Shikaku said as he laid down a map of the elemental nations on Hiruzen's desk. "But that was all our trackers were able to find as by that time the the scent had almost completely died out, one of them threw down some powerful stink pellets near the border, the whole place smelled like Tobasco suace. And now we don't know if the people who saved Naruto went North into Rain Country, or headed South through River Country…...hell for all we know they could even be heading into Wind Country."

"Do you think they would have gone to a base somewhere? I don't think they could have been shinobi from Suna, they rarely come into Fire Country for anything other than the Chunin Exams." Koharu said.

"Yes we took that into consideration but it's very unlikely, from past and recent reports on their movements they almost never go past River Country, and if they have to pass through Fire Country for whatever reason they have always made sure to let us know." Koharu said.

"I agree with with Koharu-chan" said Ryu chiming in for the first time. "Suna wouldn't do anything to upset the alliance seeing how they are still recovering from their latest problems with the Shukaku no Tanuki. The Kazekage was forced to seal it into his own unborn son, the process took the life of Rasa's wife Karura-san. From what my spies have told me they have seen almost all the Suna shinobi forces recalled, it wasn't Suna that much is certain."

As the others took in what Ryu had said Homura spoke up " What about Rain? Nobody has heard much from them in a long time and of all the other villages they are the only Minor Village that is in any position to become one of the Major Shinobi Villages. A Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi who possibly is trained by Hanzo of all people, using hisSalamander Summons? That would be all they needed to be able become one of 'the Big Five'."

At this Jaraiya shuddered "Now _that's_ a scary thought, that man gave me, Tsunade, and Oro-teme our titles _after_ he gave us an ass whooping. He's the only one who ever could go toe-to-toe with sensei, but if he trained _any_ Jinchuuriki in his techniques…." his voice trailed off as he didn't really want to finish that thought out.

It was at this point that Hiruzen spoke up "You make a good point Homura but Hanzo wouldn't risk stealing a Jinchuuriki from a major village, but if a Bijuu had broken free then he would almost certainly be the first one there to nab it. He knows very well that at _that point,_ its a free-for-all on who gets the Bijuu, besides Rain doesn't venture out of their borders unless they're going into Grass, Claw, or River Country."

"So the question stands…..where is Naruto?" Hiruzen asked as he took a long drag on his pipe.

Hidden Akatsuki Base in River Country(in a galaxy far far away)

As Naruto opened his eyes the first thing he saw was a dark grey stony ceiling, blinking away some of his sleepiness he sat up and first looked at himself. He was wearing a white shirt that was obviously too big for him and upon further inspection he had a crude grey pair of shorts on that fit him just fine, the second thing he noticed about himself was that he was covered in bandages. As he started lightly touching himself all over to make sure he was okay he noticed that he actually felt pretty good, more than good, he couldn't describe it but as he became more awake and his mind became sharper, he felt great! Looking at his left arm he saw that there was some kind of needle stuck in his arm that was held down by the bandages, attached to the needle was a clear tube that led to a clear plastic bag that was hanging next to his bed. Looking more closely he could see that the bag was half full of some type of clear liquid, _"Ohhhhh I think I saw that at the Hospital once…..yeah the nurse there said it was called a...ummmmmm an IP! Yeah that's what it is, it's supposed to do something to help sick people!"_ With that thought in mind he started to look around at the room that he was in, there wasn't much to look at because of how little there was inside, but he did see a dresser and a desk. Getting out of his bed he took a look at the needle in his arm and decided to take it out since he felt fine, besides Kura-chan had said she'd make sure that he would be completely fine by the time he woke up. Slowly taking the needle out of his arm, he briefly shuddered at the alien feeling of the needle leaving his arm, after placing it on the desk he made his way out of the room. Finding himself in fairly well lit hallway he decided to just wing it and went left, as he walked barefoot through the long hallway he began to wonder where we could possibly be. Coming to some stairs he made his way down them into what appeared to be a very plain kitchen with a table and a few chairs, looking around his stomach started to growl. Deciding on his next course of action he began to rummage through the different cabinets for anything, as he was looking something big and metallic crashed into the ground next to him. With a scream he jumped back hitting something large and _very_ solid, as he looked at what it was that scared him he saw that it was some kind of weapon. It was long and had not one but _three_ red blades sticking out of the end that almost hit him, easily the scariest thing he'd seen so far, as he looked at the weapon he saw that it was being held at the other end by a very beautiful woman. This woman had long shapely legs with nice wide hips and a thin and toned waist, her breasts were large and covered in bandages similar to the ones he had on under his shirt. He saw that she had a very elegant and beautiful face with silvery white hair, her eyes were even this really awesome shade of dark purple!

As Naruto looked at her he couldn't help but blush at the beautiful woman before stuttering out "T...T-Tenshi…" realizing what he just said out loud Naruto quickly covered his traitorous mouth with his hands before anything else slipped out, his face easily telling the woman of his embarrassment.

This got the woman to laugh out loud for a bit "Ha! Kakuzu check it out, the gaki thinks I'm an angel! Awwwww that's so cute, but there's something you should know little boy…." she said as she easily ripped her large weapon out of the ground and got really close to the young boy's face, causing him to blush like a tomato.

"A-And...wh-what's that?" he asked as she leaned in close to whisper in his ear.

"If I'm an angel…" she said into his ear. "Then I'm an angel from HELL!" she finished while screaming out that last part, causing Naruto to shake in fear till he heard a very deep and very gruff, almost cruel sounding voice speak from behind him.

"Hitome as amusing as it is to watch you scare little children, it won't do for you to scare this one to death, we need him alive remember?"

As Naruto slowly turned around he realized that not was it this particular man that he bumped into, but he was easily the scariest person he had ever seen in his life. This man was _very_ tall and had muscles that looked like they had been carved out of rock, he wore no shirt revealing that he was covered in stitches and scars like some kind of ragdoll, he even had stitches on the sides of his mouth! The scariest thing about him were his eyes, the whites of his eyes were a bloodshot red and he had pale pupiless green eyes that seemed to just bore down into him. With a yelp he immediately scurried to some relative safety behind Hitome's legs where he peaked out from around them at the tall man, his tail being tucked away between his legs.

"Jashin dammit Kakuzu! How the hell is it that you barely have to do anything just to scare the kid?!" asked a ticked off Hitome, the fact that the kid was now hiding behind _her of all people_ for safety just added salt to the wound.

Kakuzu snorted not giving her a response as he was still annoyed with her for using up all of the hot water, looking at Naruto he thought to himself " _So this is the brat we have to look after huh? Tch, well I can't say this is off to a good start all things considered, at least he didn't wet himself or anything."_ As he was doing his best to ignore his partner who was now screaming at him _for_ ignoring her, something clicked in his mind as he thought about the boy, in particular his name. _"Wait….Orochimaru said that this boy's name was Naruto Uzumaki…..could it be? Hmmmm if he is an actual descendant of the Uzumaki Clan then he's probably the last one alive, huh, never thought I'd see another one alive again."_

Looking back to his partner who had finally stopped ranting had settled for glaring daggers at him, he decided to get even for the cold ass shower he had to take. "Hmm? Did you say something?" he asked enjoying the look of absolute rage on Hitome's face.

Somewhere in Konoha

A certain Anbu with gravity defying silver hair was about to report to HQ on his mission to Snow Country when he stopped, and very violently sneezed. Feeling an odd mixture happiness and abject horror for some unknown reason, like something precious of his had been profoundly corrupted.

Back in the Hideout

After hearing this Naruto couldn't help it and started laughing at Hitome's expense, as he lightly rolled around on the ground by her feet, Kakuzu couldn't help the smirk that came over his face. This was just toooooo goooooood, who knows maybe having the brat around will be worth his while after all? If it will give him chances like these at least, it'll help pass the time to egg on Hitome.

"Hey boy! Quit trying to hide behind me, I'm not your mommy!" Hitomi yelled.

Nartuto stiffened as he had always been sensitive over that "Y-yeah well what do you want me to do?! I need to hide behind _something_ from that ogre and you're it! Even if you aren't that tall!" he yelled back, still hiding behind her legs.

"WHAT?! You calling me short? I'm a fully grown woman, I'm supposed to be this big you bite sized midget!"

"Hey you take that back, I'm only this small because I ain't grown up yet, what's your excuse?!" came and indignant reply from Naruto.

"WHY YOU!" as Hitome went to grab Naruto by his ears, Naruto promptly bit her in the leg getting her to yelp and jump back.

"OW that hurt you little savage!"

"That's what you get!"

As Kakuzu watched their antics unfold before him he could only watch in a mixture of horror and irritation, for one they were both grating on his last nerves. And for another the two of them were so damn similar, if he didn't know any better he would have sworn they were mother and son. Deciding to put an end to this he stepped in and grabbed them both by the back of their necks and slammed their heads together, resulting in a _very_ satisfying 'bonk'.

Seeing that he had their attention he spoke "Listen boy I know you must have a lot of questions so sit down at the table and shut up, you too Hitome. I'll make some breakfast and fill you in on what's going to happen." with that said he turned on his heel and went to the cabinets and began retrieving various items.

Getting the feeling that he should do as he's told Naruto quickly sat down in one of the chairs that was there while Hitome did likewise, as Naruto looked at the both of them he couldn't help but ask. "Sooooo ummmmm who are you two? N-not that I'm not thankful or nothing, but who are you guys?"

Snorting Kakuzu looked over from the simple omelets he was making "Well that didn't last long, and the name's Kakuzu gaki, that she-bitch sitting next you is called Hitome."

"Fuck you Kakuzu!"

"Ummmm Hitome-san… what's a bitch?" Naruto asked confusedly.

" That's what you call a woman who annoys the hell out of you and won't shut up…." chuckled Kakuzu.

"Oi! Fuck you Kakuzu!" came Hitome's indignant retort.

"ANYWAYS" Kakuzu said powering through whatever the other two might have said. "That's our names, but who we are is another matter entirely seeing how we're the ones who rescued you from those men the other night."

As Naruto immediately sobered up he looked from Hitome to Kakuzu as again he was flooded by the images of what had happened to him, so these were the people that saved him? So what was going to happen now?

"What happened?" he asked.

"We killed them all except for their leader Fugaku, he escaped, but don't worry he'll get his soon enough." Hitome said suddenly serious.

"What's going to happen now is that we're going to be taking care of you from now on, we are apart of a very special group of ninja called the Akatsuki." Kakuzu carefully said, trying to keep in mind that he was still talking to a 5 year old child. "We know how special you really are and for now we need to keep you alive, and in the meantime we're going to train you to be like us."

"Ak…..Akopski?" Naruto asked not fully understanding the word.

"No, Akatsuki...it's the name of our ninja group. We don't work for only one village and we move around a lot, you're going to learn from some of the very best gaki, so don't let us down." Hitome said.

"O...okay...but how am I alright?" Naruto asked

"Hmmmm I take it you're referring to your arms and legs yes?" Kakuzu asked receiving a nod. "Sigh, very well but first let's start with what you are first, there's no real easy way to say it so I'll just be upfront with you. Naruto you are what is known as a Hanyou, or a half-demon, it's why you look the way that you do." Kakuzu said while he studied Naruto's reaction. It was fairly close to what he figured it would be, as soon as he finished speaking Naruto's ears drooped down low to the sides of his head, and his eyes started to tear up.

"S…..S….So….th-the things….that those mean men said to me….th...they were true?" Naruto asked looking back up at Kakuzu and Hitome, tears now steadily falling down his face. He didn't want to believe that he really was a demon, he hadn't done anything bad ever, but….somehow he knew that it was true. All he has to do is just look in a mirror anyways, and that will tell him all he needs to know, he's not like everyone else, he's not human.

"So…...w-what happens now?" he simply asked, still not sure of his fate or what they might do to him.

Hitome then spoke up "We're going to make you strong Naruto, so that way you'll never be weak or helpless ever again. When we're done with you, you're going to be able to show the world what a _real_ demon looks like so don't be sad or ashamed. Hell in my religion we celebrate and love demons and Hanyous, so be _proud_ of what you are, cause it's damn better than being like all the others. And if you want in a couple of years I can teach you _all about_ the glorious ways of Jashin!" she said with a crazed happy smile, internally she was thinking to herself. " _Perfect! I can't believe I lucked out in finding one, with all the training we're going to be doing he's guaranteed to trust us, and the best part is if I play my cards right I'll have a pupil to the ways of Jashin! Ohhhhh I can't wait to take him to his first sacrificial murder! I'll be able to teach him how to use blood as a weapon, how to use curse jutsus, the birds and the bees, ohhhhhhh it's going to be so much fun!"_ she thought to herself as she looked at a now confused but somewhat excited Naruto, who now seemed to be calming down a little, as she looked at how the boy was acting she noticed something that didn't seem right. Now for all of Hitome's crazy she knew everything from torture to even basic psychology, something that she used whenever she was going to be torturing some poor bastard to fuck with their heads, and if there's one thing she knew, it was that trauma victims like Naruto are never this 'together' or 'well'.

Something was off, and what better way to find out than to make the brat tell her? Sitting up in her chair she asked "Hey Naruto, how about you tell us why you ain't crying your eyes out, huh? We know you went through some pretty bad shit the other day, but you just woke up, you shouldn't be able to even speak, let alone _this well._ " she said as she quickly shot a look to Kakuzu, nodding he then chimed in as he set a plate of food down for each of them.

"Yes, I was wondering the same thing, you speak very well for a five year old orphan…...especially one who just went through something that traumatic." Kakuzu said narrowing his eyes at the young boy. "Anything you want to tell us?" He asked in tone that promised pain if he didn't like what he heard.

Looking from one to the other and seeing that he wouldn't be able to keep this a secret from them, he figured it'd be best to come clean with them.

*gulp* "O….Okay but could I eat first and have some water? It's gonna take a while to tell you both." he said as his stomach let out a loud growl, much to Naruto's embarrassment.

"Fine" Kakuzu said figuring that whatever it is could wait till after the kid ate, not like the gaki is even capable of concentrating while hungry anyways. As they all ate there was a subtle quiet tension in the room, as Hitome and Kakuzu silently looked at each other as if sharing conversation. It wasn't normal for either of them to be this accommodating for anyone at all, and it was already starting to get on their nerves, but given what had transpired the past few days they supposed they could cut the kid some slack. They're still marveling over how well the boy seems to be holding up, and it wouldn't really do for either of them to send the gaki spiralling down into some sort of depression and clam up, at this point they knew that he was definitely at his most fragile and what happens next could make or break him.

As they finished eating Kakuzu looked over as if to speak before Naruto cut him of, "I know Kakuzu-san, I know." said Naruto as he took a deep gulp from his glass. "I guess I should start from the beginning then right?" He asked getting a nod from both of the adults. "Okay then….I…..I know everything it is that they did to me…" he said with a shudder. "I wanted the darkness to just take me, i wanted to shut my eyes and go to sleep so bad, just so I wouldn't have to deal with it." *sniff* "They stuck some kind of needle in my neck saying that 'it would keep me awake', it worked…..cause I remember _everything._ I remember how they cut me, how they burned me with fire, they…..they _cut my arms and legs off._ " Taking several moments to breath and to steady himself, just like Kura-chan had told him to do, he quickly drank some more water before speaking. "They even cut my penis off too….." he said quietly almost to himself, as he saw they grim looks on both adults faces looked slightly shocked at the news. "While they were cutting p-p-parts of me awa-away…..this red _chakra_ came out of my tummy and started to help me." This particular bit caught Kakuzu's and Hitome's interest, not only did he know what the Kyuubi's chakra was doing for him, _he even knew what chakra was to begin with…..a five year old._

"Pretty soon they started to do…..other things...to me….i can still taste and feel them…." Naruto said as tears started to leak out from the corners of his eyes, his ears now drooped flat against his head.

Now even Hitome was starting to really feel for the gaki, as a woman she knew all about what fates that all women feared, especially kunoichi, she knew what it was like to be taken advantage of too. That was ultimately how she ended up being found and saved in the wilds of Iron Country by the High Priest of Jashin, reaching out across the table she tried to comfort the boy by rubbing his shoulder. It didn't have the desired effect as he violently ripped his shoulder away from her yelling, **"D-DON'T TOUCH ME!"** His voice having taken on a highly demonic tone as began to ball right there in front of them, as this was going on Hitome went around the table to where Naruto was sitting. What happened next surprised Kakuzu completely as Hitome then did something that was completely out of character for her, she hugged Naruto, wrapping him up in her arms so he could cry in her bosom she simply held onto him. Freezing at first not knowing what she was going to do, he eventually eased himself further into her chest and cried for several minutes, as this was going on Kakuzu was seeing Hitome in a different light altogether. Figuring that she must have experienced something similar in the past, he decided to let the two of them have their moment, besides it wasn't like there was much he could do anyhow.

As was busy getting it out of his system Hitome was currently at war with herself, as all of this was bringing back a lot of old memories from her past, before she found Jashin and became immortal. _"UGH! What the hell is wrong with me?! I'm supposed to be a hard core bitch with attitude, not hugging some demonic gaki like I'm his mommy! Jashin dammit, this is not good for my image, I just know Kakuzu is going to give me grief over this later…..why the fuck does this kid need to be so Jashin damned cute!?"_ While this was going on Hitome noticed that Naruto seemed to have calmed down quite a bit, slowly letting go, she noticed a hesitance in Naruto to let go of her. _"Awwwww I guess he likes my hugs….No! Bad Hitome bad, hard core bitch!"_

As Naruto sniffled and wiped the remaining tears from his eyes, "Thanks, i really needed that." he quietly said.

"No problem gaki, just don't expect too many of those okay? Can't let people think I've gone soft."

"O...okay…." as Naruto steadied himself he thought back to the last thing he say before he blacked out. "I think I remember seeing you two before I…" he seemed to briefly struggle as if trying to find the word he was looking for. "...blacked out." he finished as he looked at them both. "What happened next was I woke up somewhere else, and I'm not talking about here." he said as he began to explain to them where he woke up, and how he first met the Kyuubi, even going as far as to tell the two of them that her name was Kurama. And about what happened when he woke up next to the Kyuubi again….

 _Flashback_

 _Kurama had been taking care of Naruto for several hours now, the kit having spent most of the time crying till he had finally cried himself to sleep. As she watched over the kit she couldn't help but marvel at how cute and innocent he looked, and as he slept, how peaceful he appeared. She knew however that the poor boy was anything but 'at peace', and that the kit would most likely feel the scars of that night for quite a few years still. As Naruto began to stir from his nap he slowly opened his eyes, the first sight to greet him being the Kyuubi, whom he couldn't help but feel safe with. He couldn't find the words to describe it yet, but somehow he just knew that the Kyuubi-no…..that Kura-chan would never hurt him, he could see it in her eyes. And at that moment that silent promise of safety and protection that her eyes held, meant more to him than he could ever describe._

" _Hey Naru-kun" Kurama soothed. "Did you enjoy your nap?"_

" _Yeah" he yawned out cutely as he rubbed his eyes and scratched his ears, a habit he'd had for some years now._

" _You feel better now?" she asked as she softly nuzzled his side, getting him to giggle._

" _Hahaha! Yeah I feel better now Kura-chan, ummmmmm Kura-chan?" he asked a little uncertainly._

" _Yes?"_

" _Well what's going to happen now? What do I do? And….where am I?" he asked._

" _That's simple Naruto-kun, you're going to stay here with me for a little while, this place is called your 'Mindscape', it's a very special place inside of your mind that you can go into. Right now I can't leave it so I'll be with you for a very long time unless you find a safe way to let me out, and while you're here I'll start teaching you as much as I can alright?" Kurama said as she fixed her eyes on Naruto._

" _REALLY?!" he asked excitedly, happy that he'd get to spend more time with his new friend, and happy that they had a cool place that they could meet._

" _Yes Naruto-kun, but you should know that you can come in here whenever you want, but it'll be best if you do it when you go to sleep at night. Also you should know that you can make this place look like whatever you want it to alright?" she asked amusedly as Naruto was starting to twitch and wiggle with barely restrained glee, his tail actually wagging side to side. "KAWAAIIII, such a cuuuute little thing!" she thought to herself._

" _So I can make this place look like whatever I want?" he asked receiving a nod._

" _Like a big castle? Or some place with lots of grass and mountains?" again receiving a nod to both._

" _Ummmm quick question what is this place right now and there those large…'things' over there?" he asked pointing to the cage doors._

" _Oh, that's just what keeps me locked in here, I'll tell you more about that later when you're older. But for now try to change up your mindscape." Kurama quickly answered not wanting to answer too many questions all at once._

" _Okay soooooooo….how do I do that?" he asked causing Kurama to sweatdrop, in hindsight she probably should have covered that when she mentioned it._

 _Mentally slapping herself she spoke "What you do is you concentrate as hard as you can and-" but before she could finish with her explanation everything around them changed almost in an instant, as she looked around what she saw made her jaw drop. Because instead of being in a sewer of sorts with a large set of cage doors, they were now in a very sunny grassy plain with rolling hills, she could see a large river not too far away and many mountains in the distance in every direction. Quickly looking around she could honestly say that she was shocked, most full grown adults are incapable of making any changes to their mindscapes, when they have one at all that is, let alone doing something on this scale….ON THEIR FIRST TRY! As she was busy looking around for the life of her she couldn't find the cage doors or the seal holding her ANYWHERE, it wasn't until she felt something swinging around on her neck that she stopped to inspect it. It appeared to be a necklace of some kind that hung low enough off of her neck for her to easily grab it. It was a simple gold heart-shaped locket on a gold chain, when she opened it up it had a picture of Naruto on one side and the seal itself on the other side._

 _Looking back at Naruto who was now shyly sitting on the grass with his tail wrapped around him, he asked "Do…..Do you like it?" he asked hopefully._

 _At this Kurama suddenly felt a lump form in her throat as she stared at the boy, did she really mean this much to him?_ "He doesn't even know the significance of what he's done, he isn't just giving me a gift. He's trusting me with his own life and asking for my hand in marriage!" _she thought to herself as she started to blush deeply, marriage being something she hadn't even thought about in several hundred years._

 _Noticing that Naruto was still waiting for an answer she quickly nodded so he wouldn't get the wrong idea, she'd tell him about the significance of his gift when he's older. "Yes….yes I do, I like it alot. I just wasn't expecting you to be so sweet is all." she said honestly causing Naruto to jump for joy. "Still so innocent after all of that…" she mused to herself, as she watched the kit she quickly remembered something else about the mindscape that Naruto would need to know._

" _Ahem Naru-kun," she said getting his attention. "There's one final thing about this place that I forget to tell you about, time here passes differently from the real world outside." she said getting what was getting to become his patented look of confusion, with his left ear down and his head tilted to that side._

" _What I mean is when you wake up and you are in the real world everything is normal, but here time goes by much more slowly. Every hour you spend out there in the real world is as long as a full day here in the Mindscape, it can even be longer. You could spend anywhere from 6 to 8 days in here every night you go to sleep, or even a couple of months if you wished." she said as Naruto looked at her with wide eyes, that was in deed a long time._

 _2 months later_

 _The last few months had gone by fast for the both of them, Kurama had done her best to help the poor kit to keep him from becoming withdrawn and receding into himself. The sheer trauma from what he went through is almost surely going to have lasting effects on him for the rest of his life, no matter how much treatment and help he may receive, and no matter what he may do to forget about what happened, the damage was still done. Kurama knew that with such a level of damage even if Naruto had someone from that Yamanaka Clan wipe his memories, it would only make things worse because he would still suffer from what had happened to him, he just wouldn't know WHY. The only way for Kurama to help Naruto recover from his torture and rape would be to help him face it and explain everything to him, so that way he could have some measure of peace in knowing just WHY it happened to him. Needless to say the immortal demoness had her work cut out for her in trying to explain all of this to the kit, a five year old no less, but luck was on her side it seemed. Something that the demoness hadn't expected was just how smart Naruto was, he seemed to be learning and understanding what he was told at an alarming rate and seemed to have as many questions as there were stars in the sky. So Kurama did what she could, she smothered the kit with as much affection and encouragement and love as she possibly could, and as time passed Naruto truly began to understand what had happened and all of the reasons why, how he ended up with Kurama sealed inside of him, why all the others hated him, and why he looked so different. With the hard part of explaining all of this to a severely traumatized five year old finally out of the way, something that took just under 3 weeks to do, Kurama could breath a little easier. She knew that now Naruto had come to terms with everything that he would still be fragile, he would be in a state that can either make or break him completely for a while. All she could do was hope that the kit was at least given a chance to heal, so after Naruto woke up from one of his naps she began to teach him what she could, starting with who and what he was. After covering that she began to teach him what she could about reading and writing, what chakra was, what chakra is made out of, and what she could remember about the boy's parents. Something that made Naruto eternally grateful….._

 _Thanks to Naruto being a Hanyou he would always be different from the rest, he would naturally possess the strength and speed that most humans could never match, with chakra coils that that had been strengthened to handle his already large chakra reserves. He may be five years old but he has more chakra than at least 5 average Jounin, and that was before that stranger gave him that extra heart, which only added to his reserves. Even his natural healing was increased, he would have had an advanced regeneration ability being Kurama's Jinchuuriki but somehow that had also become a natural facet about his body. She honestly didn't know if that was because of what happened when Naruto was only a few days old or because of their mystery hero, and that was another thing that she had been trying to figure out when Naruto was sleeping. She had been pouring over all that she could find out about Naruto's entire body and whatever this THING was seemed to be similar to a symbiote, as it was doing it's best to keep Naruto's body alive. It had somehow…'become one' with almost every facet of Naruto's body, and was to some extent sentient as she had even confirmed that it actually 'recognised' that she was even there. It had even probed and prodded at HER! Almost as if trying to gauge for itself if SHE was a threat to it's host, Kurama was about to start trying to purge the symbiote from Naruto's body when she noticed what it had been doing all along. Not only had it been helping her youki circulate throughout Naruto's chakra system, to put it to use as efficiently as possible, by steadily increasing the size of his coils, and strengthening them….it was even changing the very nature of Naruto's chakra. As Kuram further inspected Naruto's chakra throughout their time together she noticed that was beginning to change into something very close to her own youki, it would never be true demonic youki but it would certainly be unique whenever the change was complete. As Kurama kept an eye on Naruto she began to notice that he was starting to make vast improvements as time went on, he was even starting to become smarter, as she looked through his mind she discovered what the cause was. The symbiote had apparently sensed it's host's stress and emotional pain, whenever Naruto was asleep it would try to 'ease' Naruto's pain, and had been slowly influencing the kit's mind from the very beginning. Trying to get Naruto to accept what had happened to him, to know that he had nothing to fear, and to move on. When Kurama saw this the symbiote noticed her, stretching out a mental hand to the demoness it briefly conveyed a feeling of gratitude, as if to say 'thanks'. Before it left Kurama to resume it's work on repairing and strengthening Naruto's fragile mind, it conveyed the knowledge to call it_ _ **Jiongu**_ _. Now knowing for herself that Naruto would be alright(more or less), Kurama started to really lay into Naruto with his lessons, the boy was already good at speaking thanks to that human woman Jihi-san, but by the time she was done with Naruto, he'd be as smart as any eight year old._

 _As the lessons winded down for their final day together Naruto and Kurama were both lying down and chatting when Naruto suddenly had a question "Kura-chan?"_

" _Yes Naruto-kun?"_

" _You told me about a lot of the things you could do, sooooooo can you make a body like mine? You know, a human one?"_

" _Oh, and what brought this up?" Kurama asked curiously._

" _Weeeeelllllll I was thinking that it must be annoying going around as big as a mountain all the time, and that you might like to talk to others every now and then, so I thought you might be able to change into something smaller to look like everyone else. And plus I…_ _...reallythinkyou'dlookbeatifultooKura-chan."_ _he said finishing with a blush._

" _Awwwwww is that so?" Kurama teased causing the kit to blush even more. "_ This kid is just too damn cute sometimes I swear…" _she thought to herself. Remembering that last human form she took she decided it'd be fun. "Okay Naruto-kun just stand still for a moment, I haven't done this in a while." And with that the mountainous demoness began to shrink at an alarming rate, her fur quickly receded as all but one of her tails disappeared. Her body began to change almost as fast as she shrank, taking the form of a woman, when Kurama was finally done turned around so that Naruto could see her. She was now 5'10" with a perfect hourglass figure, she had fairly large DD cup breasts, and wide hips with a very plump rear. Her hair was long and crimson flowing down just past her ass, she had a gorgeous heart shaped face with high cheekbones and red pouty lips. Her eyes were the same as Naruto's and like him she had a single fox tail swaying behind her, there was just one problem…...she….. was…. completely…..naked._

 _Naruto's eyes became as wide as dinner plates as he saw what was the most beautiful creature to ever exist, as he took in her nude form he began to blush till blood had completely filled his face. As he invented several new shades of red, blood promptly gushed out of his nose causing him to faint on the spot. As the worried demoness started to check on the boy, cursing herself for forgetting to make sure she had some clothes on when she transformed, she heard Naruto say two words._

" _T...Tenshi….beautiful…"he said in his sleep causing Kurama to blush, very much appreciating the comment she gave him a little kiss on the cheek for it. As she held the passed out kit in her arms she silently hoped that this little incident didn't come back to haunt her, Kami forbid if this turned him into a pervert or something. Ohhhhhh if only she knew…_

 _End of flashback_

As Naruto finished telling Kakuzu and Hitome what had been going on the two Akatsuki once again floored, honestly the only reason they were buying it was due to the fact that Naruto was a Hanyou to begin with. As they were mulling over what Naruto had told them they both came to the same conclusion that they would have to update Pein and the others ASAP, they would certainly need to know that Naruto was already in contact with his Bijuu. Who apparently was female and was most likely very close to the boy, resolving to deal with that later they focussed on something else that he had told them. Time flows much more slowly in his mindscape…...that could make their jobs of teaching him and looking after him much easier in the long run, they could have they Kyuubi go over what they taught him during the day whenever he goes to sleep, and still receive separate lessons from 'Kurama-chan' every night. If all goes well they will be able to move on to more advanced things very soon, they would just have to make sure the Kyuubi gets on board with it as well as make sure that it doesn't figure out any of their organization's true goals. It would be very tricky to say the least, the Bijuu are all several thousand years old at least, and have immeasurable amounts of experience and knowledge to draw upon, they would have to be careful at all times.

" _Hmmmmm, judging from his behavior_ " Kakuzu thought to himself. " _He will most likely respond the best to women thanks to what he's been through, I doubt if he'll ever feel comfortable around other men ever again. Understandable all things considered, so the best course of action will be to let the Kyuubi and Hitome handle most of his lessons for right now, maybe even see if we can get Konan to pitch in every now and then. That would certainly allow us to go out and do missions while somebody watches the boy, and it would give him someone else to open up to and trust. It's obvious that he's still fragile right now but I think…..that the worst might be close to being behind him if he really spent that much time in his mindscape."_

 _Quickly coming to a decision Kakuzu spoke "_ Alright Naruto here's what is going to happen, for now we're going to teach you the basic things you need to know such as reading and writing, and improving your vocabulary whenever we can. We'll also teach you mathematics and basic survival skills while we're here, and when you go to sleep you'll have the Kyuubi go over what we taught you as well as whatever else she wants to teach you. This way you learn everything you need to know as fast as possible, it may seem boring but the faster you learn this the sooner we can start training you to be a shinobi understand?" he asked getting a very excited nod from Naruto, who was practically twitching with uncontrolled excitement.

"Good because me and Hitome can't really leave this place to take you with us on our missions until you learn the basics, we'll be giving you shinobi training while we're on mission so that way you get the most out of it, and we still get to do our jobs. So however soon we leave this base will depend on you and how fast you learn what we teach you, me and Hitome are going to go and report to the others in our group what you have told us. We might even be able to get one of them to come over here and look after you from time to time while me and Hitome go out on missions that we can't take you on, if we do, you WILL show her respect. Do I make myself clear?" he said growling out the last part, the last thing he wanted was to have to deal with Konan bitching in his ear, he already had to deal with Hitome.

Seeing that Naruto understood and was nodding in affirmative he gave a low grunt before getting up and leaving the room, after a few minutes of waiting Kakuzu came back with several items in his hands. Laying them out on the table they appeared to basic tools that every ninja would have, a belt, 60 kunai, 80 shuriken, ninja wire spools, smoke bombs, 4 kunai holsters(large enough to hold 15 kunai each), 2 large shuriken holsters that would rest on Naruto's hips(large enough to hold 40 shuriken each), 1 standard shinobi pouch and a very beautiful tanto.

As he laid the tools and weapons out for Naruto to see he looked over and told him, "These are yours now, you WILL take good care of them and you WILL NOT loose or misplace any of it. They are your responsibility now, and they are what you will learn to use while we eventually begin teaching you shinobi basics. If you hurt yourself training or playing with them then it's your own damn fault, neither one of us will go easy on you while we're training you, we don't have the time or the patience for that. So you're going to either learn fast painlessly or get hurt a lot learning everything, the choice is up to you. But rest assured you WILL learn one way or another…." he said as he finished putting the entire ensemble of gear together for Naruto.

"Here put it on and see how it fits you." Kakuzu said tossing the gear to Naruto who just caught it before it hit his head, as the boy got out of his chair and began to put it on over his clothes. It was all obviously oversized on his little body with two fully stocked kunai holsters covering up most of each leg, attached by a Y-harness rig to the belt. And a shuriken holster on each hip just above the kunai holsters, the shinobi pouch securely fastened to the belt at the middle of his back, his tanto was attached to the right of the pouch allowing him to draw from his right hand.

As Naruto was checking out how all of it fit he was doing all that he could not to yell out his excitement, sensing that him showing all of his enthusiasm wouldn't be appreciated. _"Oh wow this is awesome! I wish I could show this to Kura-chan, I look so coooooool!"_ thought Naruto as he happily checked out all of his new gear. "Well how do I look?" he asked as he struck a ridiculous pose.

"Close to what we were imagining…" Kakuzu said.

"Awesome?" Naruto asked with excitement in his eyes.

"Nope, an idiot." answered an amused Hitome causing Naruto to face plant, getting up he pouted and started grumbling about 'stupid adults' and 'them being so mean'. "So when do we start anyway?" he asked trying to change the subject.

"Now" came Kakuzu's reply. "Hitome go ahead and see what he knows for now, I need to report in to the others and let them know what's going on." Not bothering to wait for a response he simply left the two as he went to another part of the base, earning a sweatdrop from Hitome. " _Wow…...he's so helpful it's like he's not doing anything at all…."_ she thought to herself. Looking back to Naruto who was all but jumping up and down with excitement, his ears and tail twitching with glee she simply sighed, somehow knowing full well that she was in for a very long day. _"Jashin dammit…"_ she thought as she started to question Naruto, can't teach the gaki anything till she found out what he knew anyways.

With Kakuzu and the rest of the Akatsuki

"Hmmmmm, I must say the child seems to have a talent for constantly surprising me…" said Pein having just heard Kakuzu's report on the Jinchuuriki. "And you say that he was in his mindscape for how long with the Kyuubi?"

"A little over two months, not only that but the boy will be able to spend about 8 days in there when he goes to sleep every night. The Kyuubi is teaching and caring for the boy, I suspect that it is doing all that it can to keep Naruto from suffering a mental breakdown of some sort. With what he went through I have no doubt that if it wasn't for the Kyuubi me and Hitome would be dealing with a catatonic vegetable right now, regardless we need to be careful around the boy. Nothing that could possibly tip the Kyuubi off to our goals, and if possible I would like Konan to help out with teaching him every now and then." Kakuzu said gaining a questioning glance from those present.

"Why would you want me to help? He's your responsibility." Said Konan not seeing why she of all people should have to help with such a simple task as teaching a child.

"Because I really don't think him learning from _any_ man let alone being near one would be a good idea, he seems to only be comfortable around women. Hell he practically sought refuge in Hitome's arms when he started to cry after having to talk about what happened to him, he most likely sees all women as a dependable source of comfort. Plus it will give him someone else besides Hitome to get to know and trust, which could help him open up more, I think what he may need the most are emotional connections with people that make him feel safe." Kakuzu explained surprising the other members of the Akatsuki with his insight, looking around he simply asked. "What?"

Orochimaru spoke first "Well well Kakuzu kukukuku, I don't think any of us were expecting you of all people to say something like that, not many people study psychology to such extents. Let alone know enough to diagnose such severe trauma." he said earning a derisive snort from his colleague.

"I'm about as close as it gets to being immortal and I've had a lot of time on my hands, what better way to pass the time than with a book? Personally I've read up on every subject that there is over the last 50 years, a man has to have _some hobbies_ after all." replied Kakuzu once again surprising those gathered. "But enough of that there's one more thing that I want to mention, at some point in a few years I'm going to go to the boy's ancestral home of Uzushiogakure. With a bit of his blood I should be able to get in just fine and look around, I doubt I'll find anything but if I do then all the better, I was around when that village was still standing before the Second Shinobi War. If anything of value survived the village's destruction then it will most likely be something good, I'll need to do some digging though, when I do leave I'll need Hitome and Konan to look after the brat. Last thing we need is Hitome to be left alone for extended periods of time with a child, especially this one…...she'll probably try to convert him to her stupid religion." he said grumbling to himself near the end, Hitome could be _annoying_ when she rants about her religion, one religious loon was enough thankyou.

"Hmmmm…..fine, I'll make regular visits so that way he can have someone to talk to. And when I show up you and Hitome can go out and do missions, I'll take care of the child while you two are gone." answered Konan gaining a look from most of the others gathered.

" _Sheesh…..between dealing with Kakuzu and Hitome AND Konan, this kid is sooooo screwed…"_ thought Kisame and Sasori as the meeting ended and they began to go about their previous business.

Back with Kakuzu

As Kakuzu made his way back into the kitchen where he had left Naruto and Hitome he came upon something that he honestly wasn't expecting to find, a drunk Naruto and a tipsy Hitome trying to make a list of the things that Naruto apparently 'knew'. With multiple shot glasses surrounding them it wasn't hard to see that they were turning it into a drinking game of sorts, _"Oh for the love of Kami! I leave them alone for…..twenty minutes and they're getting drunk!"_ Kakuzu fumed to himself, _"Konan better get her ass over here soon…..otherwise I might just kill myself then THEM!"_ And with that thought in mind Kakuzu walked over and threw a now passed out Naruto over his shoulder and headed outside. Figuring if he was old enough to swim in booze, then it was obviously time for him to learn how to swim for real, he'd make time to chew out Hitome later….when she had a hangover.

6 Months Later

The winds were blowing through the trees at a steady pace as the sun had just started to creep up over the mountains, as dawn was shedding light over the forest canopy the blissful silence was abruptly disturbed by the sound of a man screaming in agony.

" **AHHHHHHHH!"** came the sound of a wounded man who was pinned to a large boulder next to a waterfall. The man in question was a B Rank Missing Nin from Kiri named Rakasa Sukamu, who had fled his village after attempting to steal one of their legendary swords, the Nuibari. He had then gone ahead and decided to attack and slaughter traveling merchants, stealing all of their goods to sell on the black market, even started creating a bandit crew of over a hundred men. And was also wanted in for at least a dozen counts of rape in the lands of Marsh, Sky, Wolf, Bird, and Forest, and now he found himself at the mercy of two shinobi clad in black trenchcoats with red clouds and a…...child of all things. As Rakasa looked up at his attackers he silently wondered how he had ended up in this situation, this led to him thinking back to the beginning. He and his crew had come back from a successful heist a few hours ago and had just started to really relax when shuriken and kunai had started to sail through the air around them, before anyone knew it most of them were dead. Being an experienced shinobi Rakasa knew if he stayed around he'd be dead soon too, he would only have a few seconds so he needed to make a getaway, so without even hesitating he turned and ran. He had only gotten a few dozen yards out of the camp when several shuriken peppered his legs, biting back a scream he yanked them out while he searched for the one who threw them. Not seeing anyone he simply ran not minding the blood he was steadily dripping onto the ground, he was chased all night long till he made it to this waterfall. As he was about to make the jump across that's when a pike flew through the air and nailed him to the boulder he was currently pinned to, not wanting to die he had tried to throw some kunai only to have both of his hands pinned my the blond child's kunai. The little bastard.

"Well not gonna lie gaki you did good, especially back at the camp with those shuriken." Said one of his captors, a beautiful white haired woman with a _very_ sadistic look in her eyes.

"I have to agree with Hitome, that was smart thinking on your part making him bleed so we could track him." the other adult grudgingly agreed. This one being a very tall man who was covered head to toe revealing only his creepy ass eyes, seriously who the fuck has light red celera?

"Awwww thanks Kakuzu-sensei!" beamed the child, who was perhaps the strangest thing he had ever seen, and he had met Kisame Hoshigaki. This kid had blood red hair and eyes which were slitted, long red fox ears on top of his head and a fucking tale! Rakasa was honestly starting to wonder if he was under a genjutsu or if he was having a _really_ bad acid trip of some kind.

"Don't get too excited brat" growled Kakuzu. "We still have work to do here, your first lesson in torture begins now." he said gaining a smirk from Hitome.

"Oh hell yeah! This is where the fun really begins for you, I've been wanting to take you to something like this for months!" chirped a bubbly Hitome as she moved Naruto closer to Rakasa.

"R-R-R-Really? Y-You want me to do that now?" asked Naruto who was quite frankly scared and nervous as hell, he had acted on pure instinct when he threw those shuriken at Rakasa back at the camp, and he hadn't thought twice about that. But this was something that he just wasn't sure about, they wanted him to do some of the same things that those men had done to him all those months ago…..

"I know why you're hesitant Naruto, but this is how it must be. This is so you won't freeze up and hesitate when later when your life is at stake," said Kakuzu not taking his eyes off of Rakasa, he normally would never be this patient, but once again he found himself cutting this kid more slack.

"Hey just remember this guy is a murderer, a traitor, and a rapist. Hell he's wanted for rape in at least 5 countries, so don't be feeling sorry or guilty Naruto." came Hitome's stern reply, for once serious.

This new bit of information got Naruto to freeze as he looked at the man in front of him, this man was a murderer, and a _rapist._ This man was guilty of the same thing that had been done to _him,_ in over _5 countries!_ How many women did he hurt? How many women or kids like him did he force himself on?! **HOW MANY?!** Rakasa didn't know it yet as he sat there pinned to the boulder, a slight smirk on his face, but he was about to be put through a very special brand of hell on earth. For Naruto there was no worse thing that you could do than rape, being a rape victim himself, he naturally _despised rapists._ The thing is though that while he may have been tortured and raped 6 months ago, he had constantly had the constant love and support of Kurama-chan 24/7. Add onto that the fact that he went into his Mindscape to be with Kurama every night when he went to sleep, where every eight hours in there felt more like it was anywhere from a week to a month. And that during the day he was counseled by Hitome, who shockingly had confided in Naruto that she was a rape victim as well, and was able to help him get through everything that he was experiencing. Then for Naruto it was more like he had spent a year and a half trying to get over what had happened to him, he had come to terms with what had happened to him within a few days, and after a couple of months going by like this. It no longer made him freeze up, or cry, or get depressed when he thought about his rape, nowadays all it made him feel was pure…..blinding…...rage.

Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously as he drew his tanto from his belt, it was big in his hands, but somehow that just made things feel that much more right…..Rakasa was still smirking as Naruto approached him, he was about to say something too when Naruto quickly dragged the edge of his tanto across Rakasa's mouth. Giving him a Glasgow smile similar to Kakuzu's, while Rakasa was screaming and cursing Naruto's eyes were moving all over the man's body.

"You little shit! I'm going to kill you for that you little demon!" Rakasa roared through the pain he felt, as blood quickly began to fill his mouth.

"Ohhhhhh that was the wrong thing to say…." chuckled Kakuzu knowing full well that such a comment would only anger Naruto further.

"Ha! Got that right!" commented Hitome.

Hearing the 'demon' comment Naruto's ears twitched before he brought the tanto point first down into Rakasa's right leg, just above the kneecap, where he started to twist the blade in slow circles. Ignoring Rakasa's screams of pain Naruto proceeded to do this to the other leg before he brought the tanto under his legs and sliced both sets of hamstrings. Rakasa could only scream louder after that, not paying attention to what was going on around him as this little boy was carving his legs like a cooked turkey, with his eyes shut he wasn't aware of what was coming next. By the time Rakasa finally opened his eyes he could see that Naruto had taken out some ninja wire and some capsules, and was now cutting off his shirt and vest. When his upper clothing was finally gone Naruto immediately set himself on removing Rakasa of his sandles, pants, and underwear till the man was completely naked. Taking out two kunai he threaded ninja wire through the rings of the kunai before he began to tie Rakasa's legs as far apart as he could with the wire on each leg being pinned by one of Naruto's kunai knives. Stopping for a minute to admire his handy work for a second the then stabbed his tanto as slowly as he could into Rakasa's stomach, his eyes never leaving the man's face, having resolved to make the man work for death. He didn't want to miss a single minute of what Rakasa was going through, as Naruto began to slowly cut Rakasa's body targeting places like under the armpit, or the inner thigh. Naruto couldn't help but imagine every single one of his rapists' faces on Rakasa, wanting the man to suffer for what he had done. That was what stopped Naruto as he stood back to allow Rakasa a breather, on Hitome's instruction, he quickly shoved a ninja blood pill down the man's throat so he wouldn't bleed out on them. It was then that Naruto looked down at what must be Rakasa's prized possession, Naruto then got an idea….he got an awful….. wonderful….. terrible idea. Getting down in between his legs Naruto took Rakasa's limp cock in his hands and slowly began to stroke it, an action that gained very puzzled looks from Hitome and Kakuzu as they both silently wondered what Naruto was up to. Rakasa had no idea what the little demon was up to now as he felt his member start to become erect despite the pain he felt from the rest of his body, he could only watch as this little boy started to pump his cock faster as it came to full mast.

As Naruto pumped Rakasa's dick he imagined all of the faces from that night 6 months ago, what those men had done to him, had they had forced him to do….what they had taken away from him. As he heard Rakasa moan he could feel the man's cock start to twitch in his hands, _"Just a couple of more seconds…"_ he thought to himself as Rakasa's orgasm approached.

"Ohhh KAMI!" moaned Rakasa just as he was about to fire his load, not knowing or caring about what might happen next.

Hearing those words Naruto quickly picked his tanto off the ground with his right hand while letting go of Rakasa's cock in his left hand, as the first blast of semen shot out on Rakasa's stomach and abdomen, Naruto made a quick horizontal slash with his blade. Rakasa's eyes flew open as he watched the top half of his cock fly through the air and land on his lap in mid orgasm, the pain not registering due to his brain being in shock. With all of that blood that had been rushing to that one part of his anatomy, the blood pill he had been forced to swallow before hand, and him being in the middle of cumming when it happened, all contributed to an impressive amount of blood shooting out like a miniature fountain.

The scream of pure horror and pain filled scream that ripped itself out of Rakasa's throat easily scarred all of the surrounding wildlife away for miles, as Hitome and Kakuzu looked on stunned by Naruto's brutality. The later having wincing and covering his own manhood as he witnessed something that even _he_ could admit was fucked up in the extreme, Hitome on the other hand was actually cheering for Naruto as Rakasa continued to scream. Naruto simply watched with an unnaturally satisfied look on his face as Rakasa screamed at the top of his lungs for several minutes, when he finally seemed finished and was gasping for breath, that was when Naruto spoke.

"Are you done?" he asked causing Rakasa to look up at Naruto with pure murder in his eyes.

"Good." And with that Naruto drove his tanto into Rakasa's left temple, going through his skull with the tip coming out the other side. Ripping his tanto out he quickly cleaned it with some scraps of Rakasa's clothing before sheathing the blade and walking off, preferring to be alone for a little while.

As Kakuzu sealed the body into a scroll he couldn't help but ask "So Hitome, how long do you think it's gonna take for you to get him interested in your religion?" Given what he had just seen he could honestly say that he'd be shocked if the young Hanyou didn't convert within another year or so.

"Gimme 6 months Kakuzu and I'll have me a brand new acolyte for Jashin, gotta say though I'm proud of the little tyke, hell _I_ didn't even see that one comming!" Hitome replied as they began to make their way to where Naruto had gone, "He's going to be juuuuust fine." she said mostly to herself.

As they retrieved Naruto they and headed West towards Wind Country Kakuzu and Hitome could tell that Naruto was feeling better, the smile he had on wasn't a fake one, but a small genuine smile of contentment. For Hitome she could see that Naruto had 'gotten his power back', which is something that many rape victims never get back, she could easily admit to being happy for him. From here the only way for the little Hanyou to go is all the way up, she got the feeling then and there that the next few years were going to actually be fun having Naruto around.

 **Annnnnd I'm done, sorry to those who were waiting for this chapter to come out, had to deal with training for my new job site so I wasn't able to get to it for a few days. What took the longest though was mostly thinking of how a little child that young would act after surviving something that horrific, not gonna lie I had to go and take a shower after writing in the stuff with Fugaku in the Council Chamber scene. I also was stuck with how to write it all out cause I didn't want to spend two or three chapters where Naruto is dealing with all that shit, I wanted to try and wrap that up and find a way to bring it to a 'close' of sorts. One where Naruto finally is able to gain closure over what happened once and for all, despite Fugaku still being alive, and to press forward with the story. I still got A LOT of stuff to cover and get through, but rest assured there will still be some 'side effects' from what has happened to him in this chapter. Also to those of you who may be wondering about the stuff I wrote in about Okami Inuzuka(Tsume Inuzuka's husband), I always thought that the Inuzuka clan was badass, I mean hey Ninjas with claws and have wolf and dog companions. Just take a look at how big Akamaru gets in Shippuden! Big enough to literally ride into battle, which Kiba does actually make a habit of doing regularly for obvious reasons, but anyway the thing about them that I noticed was that they lacked ranged attacks and I never saw them use elemental variants of their jutsus in the show at all. When you channel elemental chakra into any technique it will produce unique and different results due to the 'nature' of each element, imagine if an Inuzuka were to channel a shit ton of Raiton/Lightning chakra into their signature Gatsuuga Jutsu. Not only would they travel at incredible speeds but their piercing power easily trump the Chidori! Or if Katon/Fire chakra was used instead? That's one Fire jutsu that would make most Uchiha jealous, especially after witnessing it's destructive capabilities. So I figured I'd make Okami an all around badass who could whip Kakashi's ass and really come up with powerful jutsus, (spoiler alert) he is going to die in a couple of chapters but you'll like how he goes down, trust me (wink wink). He will also have a signature weapon that will be passed down to Kiba later on who I am making a girl for this story, guess who she's going to have a crush on. Anyways let me know what you think of the story so far and make sure to read the intro to the next chapter, because that will have a list of the pairings for this story. Till then take care!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Akuma Sannin**

 **Hey guys! Just posted Chp. 2 a few minutes ago and decided to jump right into writing out the 3rd chapter. So If you were having any questions about the final scene in that last chapter with that one I wanted it to be fucked up, I told yall I wasn't going to shy away from gory bloody scenes in the beginning, plus I felt like something along those lines would actually help Naruto in the long run. Better for someone to be able to move past an awful experience than to let it plague them for the rest of their life, that and the fact that I was able to spin it that early in the story when Naruto kills for the first time was a bonus. It's a very profound thing for anyone to 'put their hands in cold water'(kill for the first time), add onto the fact that that moment is going to carry with him for the rest of his life as a moment of 'closure' means he'll be able to progress. Personally I'm just glad that I thought up that nifty little effect on time in the mindscape, though I don't see that being a problem for Naruto seeing how this will be something that he basically grows up with for the rest of his life, not like he'll have trouble acclimating between the real world and the mindscape.**

 **Pairings List**

 **Naruto:** **Hinata, Tayuya, Karui, Konan, Kurama(fem. Kyuubi)**

 **Sasuke Uchiha:** **Sakura, Ino, fem. Kiba**

 **Kakuzu:** **Hitome(fem. Hidan)...a match made in Hell…**

 **Jaraiya:** **Tsunade, Tsume**

 **A the Raikage:** **Mabui**

 **Iruka:** **Anko, Yugito**

 **Neji Hyuuga:** **Tenten**

 **Shikamaru Nara:** **Temari, Kin Tsuchi**

 **Shino Aburame:** **Fuu, Isaribi, fem. Sai**

 **Omoi:** **fem. Haku, Ayame**

 **Choji Akamichi:** **Samui, Karin**

 **Kakashi:** **Mikoto Uchiha, Mebuki Haruno**

 **Itachi Uchiha:** **Yugao Uzuki**

 **Asuma Sarutobi:** **Kurenai Yuhi, Mei Terumi…..the lucky bastard….**

 **Zabuza Momochi:** **Tsunami**

 **Lee:** **Kurotsuchi**

 **Akatsuchi:** **Suzumebachi**

 **Kankuro:** **Oruka Hoshigaki(Kisame's only daughter)**

 **Chojuro:** **Yakumo Kurama**

 **Jugo:** **Guren**

 **Gaara Sabaku:** **Matsuri**

 **Darui:** **Shizune**

 **Atsui:** **Shizuka(Mifune's daughter)...May Mifune have mercy on him…..**

 **Ok so those are the pairings that I'm going to do for the story, had a hell of a time coming up with someone for Atsui till I remembered Kisame's backstory, figured it'd be nice if the guy had a time in his life where he was truly happy. Wait till he shows up at Kakuro and Oruka's wedding, now THAT will be fun to try and write, talk about tension. Now this next chapter is going to have to do with the early stages of Naruto's training, it will pick up a year and a half after the events at the end of Chp. 2, and will also have to deal with Naruto's clan, I'm going to take my time with this one to make sure I get it juuuuust right. Enjoy!**

A seven year old was currently running through the woods of River Country, as he channeled steady amounts of chakra to his legs with each step in an effort to go as fast as possible, the peculiar boy was looking in all directions. Coming to a sudden halt behind a large oak tree the boy channeled some chakra into his black trench coat while performing the necessary hand signs, he muttered "Hijutsu: Cloak of Invisibility." And within a few seconds he was invisible to the world, as he steadied his breathing his two large fox ears were twitching left and right underneath the hood of his coat. Trying his best to strain his naturally amazing hearing for any signs of his pursuer, he knew he would eventually be caught, that was inevitable. The goals was simply to evade capture for as long as possible, not easy even for most ANBU when the person tracking you down has been hunting and killing people for the last 5 decades. Personally Naruto wanted to make his sensei _work for it_ , it was so annoying constantly being captured by him so ahead of time he had picked out the routes he would take, even finding places that would be perfect for his traps and his Cloak of Invisibility jutsu, which was why he was currently hidden within the large tree roots of this oak tree he had found the other day. He knew his jutsu worked best on flat surfaces but if you press your body up against certain surfaces juuuuust right, then you look like a natural part of nature when the jutsu is activated. And surrounded by these huge ass roots he knew it'd be slow going before Kakuzu found him, the chase had been going on for about 2 hours now but Naruto knew that eventually he would be found, his sensei was just that good. But Naruto wasn't going to make anything easy for him, he had silently resolved that if he was going to get his ass kicked every time he trained with either of his two senseis, then he was going to give them hell each time.

Which was what led to Naruto grilling Kakuzu and Hitome with as many questions as possible on each lesson, wanting to find out everything that he could use _against them_ when the sparred, when he had to do this anti-capture exercise, stealth training, all of it. He quickly learned never to do things the same way more than once or twice, not unless it was part of a trap you had already set, and if you were hiding from enemies to never leave your hiding spot unless you are about to be attacked. That last bit took him a while to get down pat, Kakuzu being who he was was a master of psyching out opponents when he wanted to, and tricking Naruto to leave his hiding spot before he had actually found him was 'child's play'. As Naruto waited out his sensei he made sure to regulate his breathing carefully to make no noise, taking advantage of the winds blowing through the trees to take deeper breaths when needed, his ears listening for _anything._ As he waited he couldn't help but briefly think about how far he had come since he met Kakuzu, Hitome and Kurama-chan.

He had come a long way and had learned _a lot_ in the past two years with them, with the benefit of being able to go into the mindscape every night, he could make 6-8 hours of sleep feel like a week or even a month if he wanted. Quickly figuring out how to adjust and control that aspect of his mindscape, he could make each visit be and feel as long or as short as he wished, which was a little confusing for a few months. But he and Kura-chan eventually got the hang of it, which led to them pouring over all that Kakuzu and Hitome taught them, and then continuing on from there. This all had the effect of not only speeding up the rate at which he learned things in general, but it also allowed him to mature and become smarter at a much faster rate. Kurama-chan had even admitted that he had the maturity and mentality of 10 year old just a few days ago, and he was turning 7 _today_! He couldn't _wait_ to see how things would be when he actually turned 10, or the things he could learn in the meantime. Because he was so small there was only so much that any of them could teach him, so while the waited for his body to grow up and mature, they grilled him into the ground on reading and writing, mathematics, the importance of money(according to Kakuzu), tactics, and finally Chakra, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu theory. The last 3 being things that made his head spin for a few months, but he eventually got the hang of it, asides from that the only thing they would let him do was exercise and practice his weapons, which he _REALLY_ enjoyed. He had gotten really good at using Kunai and Shuriken getting his aim to an acceptable level by Hitome's standards, she then taught him about Senbon Needles, what they were for, and the best ways to use them. She even taught him how to properly use Fuma Shuriken after he turned 6 years old, which led to him hugging her tightly around the waist and screaming 'thankyou' over and over again. Naruto loved using Fuma Shuriken, especially the ones that folded for easier carrying, and when he started practicing all of his Shurikenjutsu his aim eventually got to pin point accuracy.

The final thing however came a few days ago where Kakuzu had approached him and told him that he would be tested on his birthday, if he passed then Kakuzu would not only start to teach him about the Jiongu, but would also tell him something else important. Naruto didn't have a clue what that could possibly be but he knew that Kakuzu never did anything without a reason, Hitome even joked that Kakuzu wouldn't even brush his teeth without a backup plan, but the fact of the matter was that if Kakuzu was testing him to see if he was 'ready' then he would need to pull out all the stops. Because whatever that man had planned had to be important because he never wasted his time with anything, 'time is money' after all, and he _never_ made any sort of move without some type of purpose…..

As Naruto was contemplating this his ears twitched under his hood as he heard movement on his 3 o'clock, the sound of a sandal lightly touching down on the branch of a tree…..24 meters downwind of him… _"He's here"_ he thought as he kept an ear trained on him the other listening for anything else. He had learned the hard way once that Kakuzu would use his Mask Creatures sometimes when he was hunting somebody down, that right was normally reserved for those who were proving a challenge for him. A silent praise to his prey's skill, and to Naruto's if he was guessing right. As Naruto let slip a sliver of chakra to his ears, his hearing was briefly magnified just long enough to hear the tell tale 'flap' of wings in the air, Naruto knew for damn sure there weren't any birds in these woods that could make that much noise naturally. That meant to him that Kakuzu had to be using his Fuuton Mask Creature for this chase, Kakuzu was probably doing that one thing of his where he shares his vision with the winged monstrosity again. Multiple lines of site can be a bitch to run away from, honesty his best be would be to stay put and hope that they left, but knowing Kakuzu he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. Pretty soon Naruto began to hear footsteps coming downwind from him, footsteps that he _knew belonged to Hitome_ , as he was wondering what she was doing there his nose soon told him why as it caught the scent of something that made his mouth water….. _RAMEN AND SAKI!_

" _Ohhhhhh that's just not fair…."_ he thought at the underhanded tactic that they were employing to get Naruto, something that briefly made them wonder if they _really thought_ that using his two biggest addictions would actually work. After a few brief moments he grudgingly came to the conclusion that if they didn't leave soon….then yes, yes it would. As Hitome handed Kakuzu the ramen and saki Naruto could feel his resolve crumbling as he could smell the spicy pork and miso ramen from where he was hiding and….wait...he knew that smell. They had Fire Blossom Saki! That's the most expensive saki in Fire Country, even the Daimyou is known to have a fondness for it!

Looking around the clearing Kakuzu spoke up "Naruto! I know you're here so come out now, or I dump this all into the grass!" he said gaining a smirk from Hitome as they both mentally counted down the seconds till Naruto's will crumbled.

"NOOOOOO! I MUST HAVE IT!" Naruto screamed comically as he burst from his hiding spot and made a beeline for the ramen and saki, snatching both from Kakuzu's hands before any harm could happen to them. "Don't worry….I'll keep you safe from the mean old shinobi." Naruto said with a slightly crazed look on his face. Meanwhile Hitome was laughing her ass off as Kakuzu reluctantly handed her a wad of cash.

"HA! I told you it would work Kaku-teme! This kid loves ramen and saki more than life itself!" Hitome sniggered while Kakuzu began to grumble to himself. He honestly was still in denial over the fact that that had actually worked! After a year of doing this exercise with Naruto and all the things the boy had learned the boy lets a little saki and ramen bait him?! SERIOUSLY?!

Resisting the urge to facepalm Kakuzu sighed, only with Naruto would something that stupid work, at least he learns fast. Looking back at the boy who was now happily drinking the last of the saki having already inhaled the ramen, he would honestly never figure out where he got this addiction to ramen, the saki however he knew. Eyeing a certain white haired woman was also drinking a bottle of saki, from where she got it only she knew, it appeared they were trying to see who could drink the fastest….fucking alcoholics.

"AHHHH! Take THAT Hitome-sensei I win again!" Naruto crowed as Hitome soon commenced to cursing about how 'unfair' it was that anyone could beat her at drinking.

"Shaddup gaki!" she yelled bringing her fist to the top of his head and dragging them along his scalp. "Haha! Nooggee of Vengeance!" she cried as Naruto grabbed at his hurting head.

" _...I swear they're mother and son…."_ thought Kakuzu as decided he'd had enough of their antics. Clearing his throat he quickly got their attention, " Two hours and thirty seven minutes, that's your best time yet….it would have been longer too if you hadn't revealed yourself though." he said gaining a sheepish look from the young Hanyou. "I will admit your traps were ingenious, it had me stalled for the better part of and hour trying to navigate through them all. It's a good thing we taught you how to conceal your chakra, _I_ couldn't even sense you, your use of the Cloak of Invisibility jutsu was well executed too. I can tell you went all out this time…..I'm impressed." he said gaining a look of happiness from Naruto. " _This brat smiles too damn much…"_ he thought to himself.

"You've passed, now we will begin your training in Ninjutsu. But first I want you to take this and channel chakra into it, it will tell us what your elemental affinities are." said Kakuzu handing Naruto what looked like a simple pentagonal crystal.

Taking the crystal in his hands Naruto inspected it before doing as he was told, knowing Kakuzu didn't like to have to explain or repeat himself. As he channeled chakra into the small crystal it almost immediately turned black, as it began to give off a slightly reddish glow small sparks of black electricity began to shoot out of the tip. Soon the crystal changed to a blood red that began to heat up in his hands, almost burning them before it changed once more to an actual diamond, before reverting to a very rich blue crystal, finally changing back to it's original colorl. To say that they were shocked was an understatement as they stood there staring at the now dormant crystal, Hitome and Kakuzu were certainly not expecting such results as they stared at the crystal.

Naruto not knowing what was going on decided to just ask, "Ummmm what the actual fuck just happened?" he said eloquently.

Quickly getting over his shock Kakuzu spoke first "Well Naruto that crystal is a very special one, it comes from Lightning Country and is grown by using chakra to not only speed up the growth process of the crystal exponentially, but to make it capable of becoming in tune with any person's chakra. This allows a person to discover what their elemental affinities are, other lands will do something similar with trees, turning them into paper to produce the same effect. It would appear that you have 3 remarkably powerful affinities for Raiton, Katon, Doton, and a rather strong affinity for Suiton. But all know how you would have Suiton so that's no surprise, the first three however are definitely ones you were born with, with your Raiton certainly being the most powerful. Black Lightning…..I've only heard of that coming from one part of the world and that's from Kumogakure in Lightning Country, their Sandaime Raikage was said to have discovered and mastered the forbidden art of Black Lightning before naming a successor to the technique. Your Katon and Doton affinities are also very strong, though not as powerful as your primary affinity for Raiton and with the help of the Jiongu you have Suiton as well. Most impressive indeed….I honestly wasn't expecting you to have more than one or two affinities asides from Suiton, but you have 4 out of 5 of the nature elements…..congratulations." Kakuzu explained as his Fuuton Mask Creature landed next to him and rejoined with his body under his coat. Having finished he began to walk back towards the base they were staying at as he continued to talk, forcing the other two to follow him.

"Ummmmm thanks?" said Naruto who wasn't sure how to respond to Kakuzu of all people congratulating him, something that he was fairly sure was one of the signs of the apocalypse.

"You're welcome, now that we know what your affinities are we know what will be your strongest elements are which is something that _all_ shinobi should know. We will start out by teaching you two very special jutsus however that you _WILL_ master before we move on to any type of elemental training, you will also be learning how to properly wield your Jiongu. I don't think I need to tell you just how important this next step in your training is going to be now do I?" he asked getting a nod. "Good because now that you have finally graduated to real shinobi training we're going to be taking our kid gloves off with you…." he said with a very sinister chuckle.

Naruto froze after hearing this, "Wh-what do you mean?" he asked dreading the answer he was going to receive.

"Hahahaha! Four words gaki: Taijutsu and Kenjutsu Training!" came the sadistic response from Kakuzu, who was loving every second of Naruto's reactions. " _Ohhhhhh this is going to be goooood."_ he thought as he could see all of the different little tort-...er…. _training_ sessions that they would be able to enjoy together.

As Naruto looked on in fear and alarm at this horrible twist of fate he could only think about just how fucked he was, something that Kurama couldn't help but agree with him on. These next few months were going to be very long and painful indeed.

In Konoha

It had been 2 years to the day since that fateful night that Naruto went missing, it had been 2 years since everyone's lives in Konoha were had been flipped upside down. Two years of considerable pain and many broken hearts, after Naruto had gone missing the village went into a state of Martial Law for an entire year. Many of the families of the men who tortured and raped Naruto were 'questioned' though most of them had nothing to do with it, the ones who did though were publically executed for high treason. For an entire year the Sandaime tore through houses with his ANBU, it didn't matter if those houses were in the heart of Shinobi Clan Compounds, none of those responsible were safe. After the first month almost the entire village was scared the once peaceful and loving Sandaime would come for them next, within 6 months most of the Civilian Council had to be replaced as their predecessors were also executed. They weren't just executed, they were slowly tortured in the public town square to death for high treason, corruption, conspiracy to commit murder, espionage, and accessory to rape and murder. The final nail in the villagers' coffins was when after the last of the culprits died, the Sandaime went ahead and explained just what had happened to Naruto, how a little 5 year old boy was tortured and raped dozens of times and how they weren't even able to recover his body. And how not only that but he was the son of their beloved Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze and 'The Red Death' Kushina Uzumaki! The Sandaime had wished to protect Naruto from the Yondaime's many enemies by hiding his true identity, but now that the child was murdered there was no point in keeping the secret any more. And so all of the villagers and shinobi alike were shamed into silence as they were forced to reflect on all that had been revealed.

There was one thing however that had also plagued Konoha, and that was the serial rapist that had been there the night of Naruto's murder. Hiruzen had personally torn the village asunder trying to find that man, but unfortunately that bastard's smart, when Martial Law went into effect he went underground. The rapist who was more like a ghost at this point only struck 7 times in the last two years, most likely just to blow off some steam while he waited for things to cool down in the village. But Hiruzen knew that one way or another that this 'Ghost' would be caught eventually, everyone makes mistakes at some point because even the best can make mistakes. And so for the last two years Hiruzen had been combing the village for anything he could use to catch this man, and while he was doing just that he had noticed many of the smaller things that had escaped his notice.

The first and the biggest was the Ninja Academy whose curriculum he had to revamp almost entirely, they may have been in peace times but things should never have been made THAT lax compared to the wartime curriculums. And as much as he hated to think and admit it but with Naruto dead the village had permanently lost a powerful piece of it's military, and so the aged Hokage had to create a new template that would go into effect immediately. One that made sure that all students would spend the first four years learning reading, writing, mathematics, history, survival training, shinobi tactics, basic taijutsu, and all of the basics of chakra theory. The students would start learning how to properly throw kunai and shuriken by year three, as well as beginning basic chakra exercises like sticking leaves to one's body with chakra. By year four they would begin learning advanced forms of taijutsu having already spent the last three years mastering the basics, as well as how to incorporate their weapons properly into their fights so as to be more efficient combatants. When year five finally comes around they will no longer be learning mathematics or history but will instead be learning intermediate shinobi tactics and teamwork exercises, as well as learning the tree walking exercise(something that's expected to take the whole year to master). They will also spend this year going through and learning intermediate chakra theory, the different types of elemental transformations, basic genjutsu, as well as basic fuinjutsu. Granted the most they would learn with fuinjutsu would be how to make explosive tags and storage seals, but if anyone showed any proficiency then they could also learn more about Fuinjutsu. And for the last year all students would be learning basic ninjutsu and genjutsu, how to properly wield other weapons depending on the student's preference, they would also have to show a degree of proficiency with their weapon of choice at the graduation exam. All students would be shown what their elemental affinities are at the beginning of the year, as well as given instructions on how to transform their chakra their elemental chakra. This way by the time they end up on a Gennin Squad they will have plenty of experience with molding their chakra into whatever element they may have, and can begin learning jutsus from their Jonin sensei.

Hiruzen could honestly say that he was rather proud of how the first batch of Gennin turned out from his new program, it made him happy to know that they would all have even better chances out there on missions now. As he thought of this he turned over in his bed to look at the naked sleeping form of his old friend and teammate Koharu Utatane, with her hair undone and messy the way that it was she looked so peaceful. They'd mad love that night, they'd made love several times till both of them were exhausted just like they had almost every night for the past 15 months. Neither of them had expected it to happen let alone with all of the events that occurred with and after Naruto's death, the first six months alone saw more executions than most bandit camp raids. They spent so much time dealing with everyone that was involved in Naruto's murder and those of the Civilian Council that were found guilty, that Hiruzen, his old teammates and Danzo ended up working themselves ragged. And to top that all off they still had to deal with the Ninja Academy reform which meant more long nights for the four of them, and so after a little over nine months of this had left them worn and burnt out. After finally completing the new academy curriculum the four of them had spent some hours talking and reminiscing over the past, while enjoying some Mt. Myoboku Fire Saki in Hiruzen's office. As it finally dwindled down to just Hiruzen and Koharu they started to talk about their genin days when they would sneak off into the woods to fool around, which ultimately led to them losing their virginity to one another. How they kept up a very physical relationship for years before they both found the loves of their lives and eventually married, Koharu had lost her husband after he died saving her life on a mission. Hiruzen lost Biwako the night the Kyuubi attacked, they had both lost their loves after years of being with them, more than what some people can say.

Neither could trace it or pin point it, perhaps the saki was affecting them that night, but before either knew it Koharu had kissed him full on the lips. He was shocked and completely caught off guard at first, moreso when he felt her hand slip under his robes and into his pants. He could only moan into the kiss as he felt her slowly stroke him to full mast, breaking the kiss they simply stared into each other's eyes for a few moments. Catching their breath Hiruzen promptly brought Koharu over and into a sitting position on top of his desk, quickly ripping one another's clothes off they had all but rutted each other into exhaustion that night. It would be a couple of days afterwards when they could look each other in the eye without becoming embarrassed, both agreeing to not act like a couple of teenagers they had talked it out. A conversation that led to their current situation, one that had them sneaking off from their duties like a pair of horny teenagers sometimes, despite all of their nightly activities. There was even a time where Koharu had decided to visit her Hokage, she hadn't said anything to him, nor hinted at what she was doing. With a look in her eye that would belong to a woman in her twenties she quickly hushed him, before she got down on her knees in front of him and proceeded to give him a blowjob under his desk. Something that she decided to torture him with by making it last as long as she possibly could whilst forcing him to continue working, he honestly thought they were going to be caught when Kakashi walked in. Decades of being a master over his own body and emotions were put to the test that day as Hiruzen sat and listened to Kakashi's report, while trying not to let it show just how much he was enjoying Koharu's efforts. To this day he has still yet to figure out if it was just because of the situation which made it so exciting or if it was because of Koharu's ungodly abilities at giving head, either one was fine with him. Surprisingly he had actually managed to get _some_ work done that day, as Koharu had made a point of spending several hours with him that day servicing him however he desired. Something that he made damn sure to pay her back for later.

As the months dragged on and turned into years the two of them became more and more close with one another, to the point where they would spend entire nights in one another's homes just holding each other. They weren't young fools who had no clue what they were getting into, they were much older and experienced people who had already been married for years, having both lost the loves of their lives. They saw the signs and they both saw that things were changing between them, they had even admitted that they were developing feelings for each other. It amused them that after all of those years that they would wind up together like this, that they would fall in love with one another at their age. Which was why they had recently begun talks of marriage a few weeks ago, they were both hesitant given how their relationship had begun. And were wanting to make sure that they didn't rush into anything, but they both knew that they loved one another deeply by this point. They were both sort of taking a deep breath it seemed before they took that final leap in their relationship, having already taken to publically dating several months ago, something that shocked most of the village.

As Hiruzen softly stroked his new love interest's hair she briefly stirred before opening her eyes, looking at the man that was gently playing with a lock of her hair she smiled. "Hey Hiru-kun, your lips can finish what your fingers have started." she said lovingly as she snuggled into Hiruzen's tightly muscled chest for warmth. They had truly come to cherish these tender moments, as they were both approaching their twilight years it somehow made it all the more profound just holding the person you love.

"I love you Koharu-koi, I really do." Hiruzen said as he kissed the top of her head.

His words filling her with happiness she looked up "And I love you more Hiruzen-kun, you may be a perverted old monkey at times….." she said lightly jabbing at her man. "But you're MY perverted old monkey and you make me happy, the happiest I've felt in a long time." she said earning another kiss from Hiruzen.

Leaning down so that his lips were next to her ear he whispered "Then let's get married." he said softly as he leaned back to look her in the eyes, pulling her left hand out from the covers he watched as Koharu's eyes widened.

There on her ring finger was a simple elegant diamond ring with an engraved gold band, the etchings showing the symbols of the Sarutobi clan. Not knowing how to respond to this she could only stare as tears slowly started to form in her eyes, looking back to Hiruzen who smiled before he softly started to stroke her hair again.

"Koharu Utatane….will you marry me?" he asked never once breaking eye contact.

Not being able to speak she decided to convey her feelings and answer the next best way, wrapping her arms around his neck she kissed him as passionately as she could. Their kiss leading to more passion as they made love once more that night, they could always sleep in anyways but right then it was all about them.

In River Country

Naruto was in pain…...no scratch that he was in A LOT OF FUCKING PAIN. The reason why you might ask? Would be because he had just gone through the training from hell today, and the best part was that it would all start all over again the next day. He wouldn't deny that he had learned a lot of things today, because Kami dammit he did, but why did it have to be so damn painful?! It had started a little after he had passed the test that morning, Kakuzu and Hitome had almost immediately drilled him into the ground on learning these two new jutsu called the Shadow Clone Jutsu and Chameleon Jutsu. Aparently this jutsu was special because not only did it create a perfect physical copy of him, having the same scent and chakra signature as him but it knew everything that he did and could act on it's own just like he would! The clones could use whatever jutsus that Naruto already knew as long as they had enough chakra and if they were dispelled then Naruto would gain all of their knowledge and experience. Granted they weren't all that sturdy being able to be dispersed with just one decent hit, but that didn't change the fact that they were fucking useful as all hell. He could use them for just about anything from scouting and espionage to combat, they still have all of his skills, knowledge and abilities so as long as they aren't dispelled they could certainly be used in combat. There was no way he wasn't going to use them for a shit ton of support roles during all of his fights now that he knew this jutsu, it was just too damn useful not to. The Chameleon Jutsu basically allowed the user to become completely invisible, and one could easily move around and fight with it active making it an almost invaluable stealth jutsu. It had taken Naruto six whole hours to get both of the damn jutsu down though, something that had seriously irked everyone gathered. If it wasn't for Kurama-chan speaking to him through their mental link then he might have lost his cool, after he finally got them down however both of his senseis and himself were shocked.

All the three of them could see was a sea of Naruto clones surrounding them, there had to be at least 300 of them! What was worse was that some of them started to try to use the Chameleon Jutsu to sneak around and goose other clones, or try to otherwise scare one another. Panicking Naruto had quickly decided to dispel all of them at once, which he immediately regretted due to the headache that followed. Apparently there was a reason why it was a Kinjutsu, not only did it take a lot of chakra to perform but it also ran the risk of causing brain damage or death if too many clones were ever dispelled at once. Even Kurama was complaining about having a severe headache herself, which led to them all agreeing to keep the clones under 300 for at least the first few years. Thinking back to what happened afterwards, Naruto grimaced as he thought of the lessons that Kakuzu pounded into him in Taijutsu. While Hitome's crazy ass made off with another 100 of his clones to have them start practicing several different things, saying that 'it was high time to give the gaki a proper education'.

Flashback

 _As Naruto was sitting there in the clearing still trying to shake off the headache he had, he couldn't believe just how many of those Shadow Clones he created! He could be a one man army with all of those clones and he wouldn't have to lift a finger if he played his cards right in a fight._

 _As he was thinking about all of this Kakuzu spoke up. "Now that you've had some time to recover remember Naruto, if you over do that jutsu you could end up brain dead. Now come….it's time you learned a proper Taijutsu style and I just so happen to have the perfect one for you." he said walking into a clearing while Naruto followed._

" _Lucky me, this is going to hurt a lot isn't it?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow._

" _Excruciating" came the simple and honest reply._

" _Well fine then, let's jump into it already." Naruto said with a sigh._

" _Very well, now the Taijutsu style that I'm going to show is one that I have used since I was 13. It is called Kanjo Tekina Ikari, Hitome will most likely teach you another style as well but for now you will learn this. Now this style is unique because it is solely derived from one's emotions, working as a fuel for it's power and seeing how emotions can affect your chakra it is very powerful. This style is focused around very agile movements and monstrously powerful attacks and counters, those who master this style are people who are in complete and utter control of their emotions. You must be careful though because there's a price for this sort of power and as you climb up through the higher stages of training, or using the more powerful techniques in combat the more likely you are to receive serious injury. That's why it's important to build your body properly into hard muscle, why do you think I worked you into the ground these past two years with your exercises?" he said as he looked over to his pupil waiting for an answer._

 _This got Naruto's attention as he listened, he wasn't expecting to hear something like that from Kakuzu. So all this time that he had been training him into the ground, was so he could teach him his own Taijutsu style? "Wow Kakuzu…..I didn't know you cared that much…..you're not getting soft on me are you?" he asked with a grin at the end._

" _Shut up." Kakuzu growled. "Now Kanjo Tekina Ikari has seven stages to it them being named for different emotions, from the first stage to the last they are as follows. The Hate, Envy, Fury, Sorrow, Serenity, Happiness, and finally Pandamonium. Each stage has it's own functions and uses allowing you freely adapt to whatever situation you may find yourself in, the higher the level of stage you use the more powerful your techniques are. For instance Stage 4: Sorrow and Stage 5: Serenity are both B Rank levels, with Stage 6: Happiness being comprised of A Rank techniques. Care to guess where that would leave the final stage at?"_

" _Sooooo…...Pandamonium is S Rank huh? What makes it so special?" Naruto asked._

" _It grants you the ability to fight using all of the previous stages simultaneously, as well as granting you unbelievable levels of speed and power by bypassing the natural limiters in your body. Which are more commonly known as the Eight Gates, it bypasses them allowing you to fight at your fullest potential. There's a price however to this, for one you will feel every possible emotion that exists…..at the same time. The longer you use Pandamonium the more damage you do to your body, and to your mind as well. Using it briefly will cause minor muscle tears and temporary mental instability, but from there it gets worse. As you continue to use it you develop major tendon and muscle damage as well as major mental decay. In some instances you shred every muscle and tendon in your body as you fight as well as suffering from severe mental decay and a complete loss of your basic functions. Loss of hearing, sight, etcetera with the the worst case being death. " Kakuzu explained as he watched Naruto's face took on a look of horror as he listened to Kakuzu's explanation._

" _Yeaaahhh I'm just going to leave that as a last resort then hehe….." Naruto said nervously not liking the sound of that at all._

" _Alright now we will begin with the first stage which is Hate, this will require you to meditate before each practice session. The first stage draws upon your negative emotions as a base, literally any and every negative experience that you have will do. As you draw upon all of your bad memories let the anger and hate flow through you and outwards into your attacks, this stage offers no defensive techniques to speak of. But what it will offer you is a myriad of slow yet very powerful attacks, I figure given your past you should be able to get this down pat the fastest." without saying another word Kakuzu sat down in the grass in a meditative pose, Naruto catching on quickly followed suite._

 _As Naruto closed his eyes he soon found himself thinking back to the many times the other kids in the orphanage would be mean to him, calling him names, pulling on his tail or ears. As he thought of this he began to feel the emotions that he felt all of those times, and how it was quickly replaced by a searing hatred. As the memories began to flood him he began to remember how he hated everyone else in the village, for how they treated him, for how they talked to him, and for being normal when he wasn't. Moving on to the hardest memory of all, the night those men tortured and raped him. For the first time in over a year he thought about everything that happened to him, how he was pinned by kunais as his clothes were ripped from him. How they would slowly burn him with fire from their fingertips or cut his skin or flesh away, he thought of the fear and the pain and the sadness he felt that night. How he felt so helpless as he was forced to endure everything that they did to him, how dirty and unclean he felt as they took advantage of him. How he felt used and almost betrayed by those strangers, he knew they wanted him dead, but it didn't make him feel any less betrayed._

 _As he meditated he could feel a raw almost primal energy surge through him as he opened his eyes he took note that Kakuzu was now standing, silently getting up he stood and waited for his next instructions. Without a word Kakuzu walked over to a boulder near the center of the clearing, with a growl he let out a fierce right punch that obliterated it to rubble. Not even pausing to admire his handiwork Kakuzu then turned to look at Naruto, pointing to a nearby tree he simply stared as Naruto understood what it was Kakuzu wanted._

 _As Naruto walked over to the tree he heard Kakuzu's voice ring out from behind him. "This technique is called Spiteful Strike, concentrate your hatred and chakra into your fist and unleash it with your strike."_

 _Taking Kakuzu's words to heart Naruto began to focus on his chakra, his hate and his rage as he channeled it all into his fist. As the faces of all of those who hurt him briefly flashed through his head his mind rested on the one he hated the most, the only one that got away…..Fugaku Uchiha. Without any further thought Naruto let out an almost demonic roar before he punched the tree with everything he had, allowing his hate and his chakra to blast outward and into the tree on contact. Naruto could only look on in awe as he witnessed the damage that was done to the large 60 ft. oak tree, as it groaned and toppled to the ground loudly he could only smile as he felt proud in his accomplishment. As Kakuzu watched with a small twinge of satisfaction he looked at the tree where he noticed something very odd, the wood of the tree seemed to be sizzling something that Naruto noticed too._

 _Walking over they both nealt down to inspect the wood and what they found surprised them both, as the wood that hadn't been obliterated by Naruto's attack was being corroded away as if being eaten by some type of acid. Quickly looking at his own hand Naruto then looked back to the now half-gone tree before testing something out, channeling chakra into his hand he pressed it down onto an untouched part of the tree. The results were almost immediate as his chakra began to corrode and eat away at the the wood, something that had Naruto's and Kakuzu's minds racing._

 _Speaking first Naruto decided to do the normal thing and flipped out. "Holy shit! Did you see that?! This is fucking awesome!" he screamed as he started to get a glint in his eyes as his young mind started to go through fantasies of him slaying countless enemies and being the coolest ninja ever._

" _Pipe down brat, while I'll admit that's impressive as hell it doesn't change the fact that we still need to get on with your training. From now on whenever we spar you will not be using any chakra with any of your techniques, AM I UNDERSTOOD?!" Kakuzu said screaming out the last part, the last thing he wanted to do was lose a fucking limb to Naruto's…..acidic chakra. "One more thing I'm going to have to look into I suppose." Kakuzu mused to himself as he walked back to the center of their clearing._

 _Meanwhile Kurama chose to speak up through the mental link she shared with her host, "Naruto-kun you should be careful from now on, your chakra is very dangerous and if you're not careful you might kill either of your senseis!" she admonished quickly getting the desired effect of sobering Naruto up, she may not like doing such things but she knew it would kill Naruto if he lost either of his senseis. She had spent the last two years watching how Naruto interacted with Kakuzu and Hitome and while it was a very rough start at first, she knew that Naruto cared for the both of them deeply. Even if he probably wouldn't admit it._

 _Now that Naruto had calmed down he mentally responded "So Kura-chan any reason why my chakra did that?" he asked._

" _Yes Naruto-kun it's because you're a Hanyou, I noticed it two years ago when I was looking through your body's makeup. Demonic chakra is by its very nature acidic and corrosive, it has no place in nature what so ever. Your Chakra is actually as volatile as my own at this point, so just be careful from now on or you'll do something you'll regret. Now pay attention, Kakuzu is calling you!"_

 _Quickly looking back to his sensei he turned his head just in time to get a perfect view of Kakuzu's fist, the instant before it rang his bell. "Naruto Uzumaki's presence is desired here this instant!" Kakuzu yelled irritably at the now dizzy Hanyou. "Do I have your attention?" he simply asked gaining a dazed nod. "Good, now let's get back to your training." he said with a dark chuckle which promised untold amounts of pain, causing Naruto to slightly whimper._

 _With Hitome and Naruto's clones_

" _Alright maggots listen up!" yelled Hitome to the group of clones. "Here's what's going to happen the first 50 of you will practice doing the Chameleon Jutsu, your goal is to be able to turn it on and off without handsigns and move around without losing concentration. Now the next 20 of you are going to start doing the tree walking exercise, you'll channel chakra into you feet to stick to the tree. If you use too little chakra you'll just fall off like an ass but if you use too much you'll destroy the surface of the tree and go flying through the air. Use one of your kunai to mark your progress and don't stop doing this till you dispel, I'll be back to check on you later. I also want the rest of you to break up into groups of 10 each, each group will practice transforming chakra into one of your three affinities." As the clones scrambled to do as instructed Hitome fished three small scrolls out of her pocket, before handing one to each of the groups who were to be practicing basic elemental transformation. After explaining to the groups what each scroll said she instructed them to use leaves to practice on. Telling them to vibrate their chakra to produce Raiton chakra, kneading it to produce Katon chakra, and finally to harden and compress their chakra to produce Doton Chakra. Briefly showing each group what to do Hitome then went to check up on the clones that were doing the tree walking exercise, she knew that she would need to keep an eye on them the most otherwise they'd get dispersed by accident._

 _She also had to have a couple of Shadow Clones keep an eye on the group that was practicing the Chameleon Jutsu, she didn't know why but she just had a feeling that leaving a mischievous group of little Hanyous to their own devices was a bad idea. Especially when they're trying to master a fairly complicated invisibility jutsu, she didn't want to spend the whole day being pranked by invisible Narutos._

 _As she walked around the group she began to give pointers to those who were struggling, telling some to go slower, or to use less chakra, while telling others to just stand there on the side of the tree and get a feel for it. As she was doing this she was thinking about what she would have to teach Naruto next, she had been going through two of those scrolls she pulled off of Hayate's corpse. The scroll containing that Kenjutsu style was sounding pretty good from what she had read, she had only ever used the standard ANBU style that was forced to learn back in the day. But from what she had been reading this Tetsu no Ryu style was something else altogether, hell she could even use some of its techniques with her scythe which was just awesome._

 _As she was stuck in her musings one of the clones from all three groups came over to her, they had huddled up in little circle, their ears 'twitching' like crazy as they whispered to one another. Having come to some kind of a conclusion they all turned around and presented the leaves in their hands…...they were all ordinary and had nothing remarkable about them._

" _Well…...they're very pretty at least…." Hitome said with a sweatdrop. Till she saw them channel chakra into the leaves causing them to slowly crinkle into a little ball, burn into ashes, and the other crumbled into dust. "What the fuck?!" Hitome shouted getting the attention of all the clones near her. "How the hell did you get it that fast, its only been….5 hours?!" she shouted in disbelief, "Dammit where the fuck did all of that time go?" she asked to no one in particular, looking at the three clones standing in front of her she decided to give them a treat. Reaching out she simply started to scratch and rub the backs of their ears, the effects were almost instantaneous as they all began to almost purr and lean into her fingers. Even giving a little wine when her fingers would switch to another clone's head, meanwhile internally she was short circuiting. "KAWAIIIIIIII!" she thought to herself as she spent a few good minutes scratching and playing with the three clones' ears, when she finally stopped she looked around to see that all of the surrounding clones had looks of pure jealousy and hate._

 _Quickly stifling down a blush she then got back into 'sensei mode' and started yelling "Alright the show's over now all of you back to work! That goes for you three too, get back to your groups and keep practicing!" she said as she tried to look more like a hard core bitch, an image that was shattered when all three of the clones hugged her at the waist before running back to their groups to practice. While Hitome stood there and mentally raged to herself "What the hell is wrong with me?!...And why did that hug feel good?! JASHIN DAMMIT! I can't be getting attached to the little brat, so what if he's got those cute ears and-NO! Bad Hitome bad! Quit being this soft!" Having finished her little internal rant she then proceeded to do everything she could to make the clones' little lives as horrible as she could, she had a reputation to protect after all._

 _End of Flashback_

As Naruto got out of the shower he winced as his body was covered in bruises galore thanks to a certain psychopath not pulling any punches during training, sure the lessons were incredibly productive but DAMN did it hurt! _"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to be complaining a lot about this shit? And what was up with Hitome-sensei? All my clones did was….hug...her."_ he thought to himself as he facepalmed at his own stupidity, sometimes he could really be an idiot. Drying off and putting some clothes on he decided to head downstairs to the kitchen to grab something to eat, as he neared the kitchen he heard voices. He was able to easily recognize Kakuzu and Hitome's voices but he did not know who the third belonged to, but he could tell it was a woman's voice which put him at ease somewhat. Slowly entering the room he saw Kakuzu and Hitome sitting at the dining table talking to another woman that Naruto had never seen before, he honestly had to admit that she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. She had vibrant blue hair that was pinned up with a paper flower in it, and her amber eyes practically glowed. She wore the same trench coat that Hitome and Kakuzu wore which covered up whatever she was wearing underneath, but Naruto bet she was stunning underneath. As Naruto stared at the woman as she talked he couldn't stop the blush that started to form as he noticed her supple lips had a pale pink lipstick, and her lavender eyeshadow really complimented her. As he stared at this angel in front of him he saw that she had her bottom lip pierced with a labret piercing, as he saw this he suddenly thought. _"I want to suck on that lip of hers, and that piercing too…wait…...WHAT?!"_ he thought as he suddenly felt his face go nuclear with embarrassment, at least he didn't say that out loud….

All in all she was gorgeous and he couldn't take his eyes off her even as she looked his way and spoke, he still wasn't able to hear anything over his blood pounding in his ears. Shaking his head he quickly responded "I'm sorry what?" he asked sheepishly gaining an amused look from the woman.

"I said hello my name is Konan and I'm going to be one of the people training you" she said with a small smile as she couldn't help but notice how his ears were twitching like crazy, _"So he really is a Hanyou, how interesting…..he's very cute too with those ears and tail."_ she thought to herself.

" _Naruto and Konan sitting in a tree…."_ Kurama started to sing into Naruto's head.

" _Sh….shut up!"_ Naruto thought desperately as he tried to keep his blush from showing, and failing at miserably.

" _K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"_ Kurama chanted at the top of her lungs before breaking down into a fit of giggles, this was just too damn rich!

"S-s-s-so anyways you're going to be teaching me? Teaching me what?" Naruto asked as he tried not to say anything embarrassing.

"Well for one I know that all about your affinities and everything else that you were trained in thanks to Kakuzu and Hitome, so I'll be helping you to learn your Doton and Suiton elements. Hitome will focus on teaching you all she knows about weaponry and most likely some of her curse jutsus, while Kakuzu teaches you Taijutsu and about your Raiton and Katon elements. And if you want I could even show you some of my origami jutsus if you have the talent for it, but that probably won't be till much later. I'll also be the one who will be looking after you for a couple of months, Kakuzu and Hitome have an assignment that they will be leaving for in 3 months. I will return then in order to help you with your training, I just wanted to meet you in person and spend a day or so seeing how you're being trained and in what." she said as she looked Naruto up and down, this was the boy who was able to get the Raiton, Katon and Doton leaf exercises almost down in a day. Granted it would certainly take him a few months then to the exercises mastered, but that shouldn't be a problem if he also has shadow clones doing the tree walking exercise the whole time. She almost can't believe what she was hearing from Kakuzu and Hitome about the boy's progress, she'd have to see about his 'corrosive chakra' though. Who knows she might be able to help him come up with a few jutsus that take advantage of his chakras' acidic nature, but all in due time she would have to wait.

"What do they have to do in three months?" Naruto asked genuinely curious.

"We're going to hunt down someone named Janisu Okina-bumu, he's supposed to be one of them best at Kenjutsu as well as a master of Fuuton and Doton Ninjutsu. He's a missing nin from Suna who's also famed for being able to use the Magnet Release and is apparently pretty good at puppetry, though he's no Sasori he's still very good at it. He's been underground somewhere in between the Land of Earth and the Land of Bears, our spy was able to get intel that he would be moving out to a new location in a few months. So we'll be paying him a little visit while he's on the road, we've all been after him for that last three years so this is going to be especially satisfying for us." Kakuzu said not even bothering to hide what it was that he and Hitome were about to go do, they'd already taken Naruto out on these types of missions before so what would it matter to just tell him. Besides knowing the gaki he'd probably just annoy the fuck out of them till we told him anyway, still though Kakuzu had to admit it was amusing to see that Naruto appeared to have a small crush on Konan. _"Ha! Ohhhh that's going to be fun…"_ Kakuzu thought to himself, having already decided to make the boy's life hell over crushing on Konan.

Meanwhile Hitome was likewise thinking the same thing as her partner. _"Ohhhhhhh! Does someone have a little crush? Hehehehehe…...let the teasing commence!"_ she thought as she slowly got a horrible….awful….wicked….wonderful idea.

For some unknown reason Naruto shivered suddenly feeling like his doom was approaching him, deciding to just grab something to eat and just leave. "Oh, okay weeelllll I'm just gonna grab something and go to sleep then. I guess I'll see you all in the morning, and it was nice meeting you Konan-cha- _san."_ he said quickly correcting himself at the end so that no one would catch his slip up, after quickly raiding the fridge for what he wanted Naruto simply scampered off to bed without another word.

Meanwhile Hitome couldn't hold in her laughter anymore and started to bust up laughing while Kakuzu let out a few chuckles, that was just entertaining as hell to watch. Thanks to having Naruto around for the last two years they had grown to enjoy teasing the hell out of the boy for laughs, and tonight just provided them all the ammo they would need for the next few months till they left.

Looking over to Konan, Hitome spoke first. "Okay now _that_ was funny! It looks like you have a little admirer Konan, just be gentle with him okay?!" she said giggling at the end.

Konan for herself could only stare at Hitome "You do realize he is only 7 years old right? I highly doubt he actually has a crush on me at such a young age." she replied with a raised eyebrow, though internally she had to admit the boy was really cute in a adorable pet sort of way.

"Do you see now what I was talking about Konan?" Kakuzu asked getting the attention of both women.

"What do you mean Kakuzu?" she asked having no idea what he was talking about.

"I said 2 years ago that he would naturally be far more comfortable with women around him then men, you saw how comfortable he was with you and Hitome?" he asked gaining a nod.

"Yes but he seemed to be comfortable enough around you though." Konan replied.

"Yes but that's because he's known me for the past two years and he knows that I'm one of the people who saved him, he was still very nervous around me for about 4 months simply because I was a man." Kakuzu said enlightening Konan, causing her to start to see more into Naruto's psyche.

"So…...he really is as you say?" Konan asked gaining an affirmative nod from the older man. "Do you think he will ever improve, or will he always feel that way around other men.?" she asked as she thought of the little boy she just met, _"He seems to be okay but…..that could've just been a mask for his pain. Is he broken inside? I wonder just how much pain does that poor boy feel everyday?"_ she wondered as she waited for an answer, but the one she got surprised her greatly.

"Actually yes, he's already shown great improvements in that regard. It was 6 months after we got him that we took him with us to hunt a missing nin down, I can't remember his name he was just another B Rank shinobi. But he had started up a bandit party and been wanted for dozens of counts of rape in five countries, he was a little nervous before we slaughtered the bandit camp but he never froze up. He even saw our target running away and tagged him in the legs with some shuriken, when we finally captured him a few hours later he did a damn good job playing with him." Kakuzu explained, as he took a sip of his drink.

"Oh really? And what did he do after you two caught him if I may ask?" quarried Konan how was pleasantly relieved and surprised to hear that Naruto was doing better, he may be a Jinchuuriki but no one deserved what happened to him.

This time Hitome spoke up, a touch of pride in her voice. "He tortured the fuck out of the guy, stabbing his legs, carving him up like a Thanksgiving Turkey, till he started to cut off the rest of the guy's clothes. He then started to jerk the guy off." she said earning a surprised and disturbed look from Konan.

"Wh-what?! What the hell for?" Konan asked incredulously, _"What the hell could possess him to do something like that?!"_ she thought to herself.

"He jerked the guy off and right as he was cumming Naruto sliced the top half of his dick off." Kakuzu explained gaining a disgusted and horrified look from Konan. Who _really_ wasn't expecting something like that, that was just fucked up.

"He then waited for the guy to stop screaming before simply asking if he was finished, then he buried his knife in the guy's temple and killed him." Hitome said as she enjoyed the normally stoic woman in front of her, was completely caught off guard by that little story.

"So how has he improved since then?" Konan asked as she re-schooled her features, now really wanting to know more about Naruto's development.

"We've taken him with us into the lands of Fire, Wind, Rain, and Grass so that he could gain experience from being on mission. So that he could see how we operate and learn how to be a shinobi, and how to hunt other humans. We'd simply have him practice his stealth skills by hiding as close to the enemy as we could get him, and while we deal with everyone there we'll save our main target for Naruto to deal with. That's when he would practice torture and interrogation techniques on them, Hitome was able to teach him everything she knows about torture and poisons." Kakuzu said shocking Konan with just how much the boy knew and had done in his short little life.

"Ahhhh yep! I'd question him on all of that stuff while we traveled from place to place, he really learns from being shown what to do and actually doing it himself. That's why I'd grill him on what he learned in between each torture session so that way he could continue to learn more, I'd just have him imagine that he was doing whatever we talked about to Fugaku-teme!" she said happily as she took a swig of saki. Now that Konan actually looked she notice that there were three empty bottles of saki next to Hitome that hadn't been there earlier, which made her wonder where the woman got them from. And how the hell was she even able to sit upright in her seat like it was nothing?!

"Soooo…..it would appear that he's been progressing at a remarkable rate." Konan simply concluded after taking a few minutes to take in all that she had just learned. _"This boy is going to be a monster when he grows up, I don't think I'd want to face him then if we ever ended up on opposite sides. With this level of progress he really will turn into an unstoppable force, we'll definitely have to be careful with how we secure his loyalty. Hmmmm Kakuzu said that Naruto seems to bond with women, feeling much more comfortable with them than men…..maybe I could get close to the boy in the coming years. If I get him to feel attached to me and maybe even to Hitome then we could possibly secure his allegiance later on, especially when we start to extract the Bijuus from their hosts."_ With that in mind she decided to take a day to see what Naruto's training would be like before she left, she'd make sure to have Kakuzu or Hitome give her and Pein updates before she headed back here to take care of Naruto.

"Very well then, I'll be watching how you train Naruto tomorrow to get a feel for how he learns and how fast he learns. I'll want regular updates in between now and when I come back to look after Naruto so I know what to do and expect. That way I can pick up with where you left off, I'll handle his Suiton and Fuuton training then. That way you two can focus on his other elements as well as whatever else you wish to teach him, this way his training will be focused to yield the best possible results. But I will need your updates beforehand, as that will help me decide what I shall be teaching him." Konan said as she began to come up with multiple ideas as to what she would teach the young Hanyou, she was actually a little excited even. She had never had to teach someone other than Yahiko years ago, and she really enjoyed it back then so teaching Naruto could even be fun for her. It would certainly be refreshing for her to take a break from her duties back in Ame, still she had work to do if she was going to be here with the child and she would make sure Naruto learned what she had to teach him.

"Easy enough, I'll have a list detailing his skills and what he knows and is being taught ready for you before you leave tomorrow. As for updates just send Zetsu at the end of each month to pick up another scroll detailing his progress, that way I don't have to keep wasting time with the rings." replied Kakuzu as he got up from the table to get some sleep, "I'll see you tomorrow." he said before retiring for the night.

As Konan watched him go she wondered just what type of hell he was putting Naruto through, judging from the bruises that he was covered in Kakuzu wasn't exactly pulling any of his punches. But still it showed just how resilient the boy was, she had seen what a punch from Kakuzu could do when he's motivated and even though he was still going easy on Naruto she knew those hits hurt. Looking over to her fellow woman she saw that Hitome was happily downing another saucer of saki, she really had no idea how Hitome was able to drink that much and still live immortality be damned.

"Ahhhhh so! Wanna drink with me for a little bit?" Hitome offered as she pushed a filled drinking saucer Konan's way.

"No thank you Hitome, I still remember the last time I drank with you. And I know for a fact that is the same stuff that had me seeing triples after a few drinks, sorry but I learned my lesson from the last time." she replied with a slight smirk, she'd never admit it but Hitome was very fun to drink with. "Good night" she said before retiring herself.

"He before you go one thing!" she said quickly getting Konan to turn around. "There wouldn't happen to be anything going on between you and the leader would there? You two seem to spend an _awfully large amount of time together._ " Hitome asked slyly gaining an almost unnoticeable blush to grow on Konan's cheeks, something that sent Hitome into a drunken fit of giggles as Konan simply left without another word.

The Next Day

Naruto was standing in the same clearing as before as he practiced the day before, yesterday he had been able to learn the three basic techniques of Stage one as well as getting the hang of them. Something that had resulted in Kakuzu having to constantly raise up boulders from the ground with his Doton ninjutsu, near the end they were going over proper technique so as to make sure Naruto left as few holes as possible. Today Kakuzu was going to make him focus on repetition with each technique so to build up Naruto's speed and muscle memory, while making him do it properly every time so Naruto could gain flawless technique.

As Naruto sat there meditating on the grass Konan watched from one of the surrounding trees' branches, looking around the area she saw that there were many felled trees. Deciding to investigate she quietly _Shunshined_ over to one of the trees that appeared that Naruto had practiced on the day before, it was just how Kakuzu had said last night. Naruto's chakra had apparently corroded about half of the tree, half of what had to be a 60 ft. tall oak tree that had to be about 4 ft. around. _"Hmmmmm this is very impressive, I'll have to make a note to spend some time with Naruto trying to find a way to use this to his advantage. I'll save that for after I've gotten him to an acceptable level with his Suiton and Fuuton training, if we have the time afterward I'll see what I can do then."_ she thought as she looked at what Naruto had done, looking out across the clearing Konan saw that dozens of trees had met the same fate before they had switched to boulders.

If the half gone boulders were anything to go by it looked like someone had taken an ice cream scooper to them at times, Naruto's chakra was damn scary if it could do something like this at only seven years old. As Naruto and Kakuzu began to go through the techniques that they had covered the day before Naruto began to go through the various katas he knew, he seemed to have done them perfectly because Kakuzu didn't say a word during or afterwards. He simply did a handsign before raising a fairly large boulder up from the ground for Naruto to practice on, Konan watched as Naruto went through three techniques on the boulder each destroying a fairly large portion of the rock each. But what made her widen her eyes was when she watched as what was left of the boulder began to become corroded by Naruto's residual chakra, before long all that was left was a piece about the size of Naruto. Without a word Naruto charged and let out a kick that reduced it to rubble, looking to his left Kakuzu already had another one ready for him which he then charged towards running through everything that Kakuzu had taught him to do. Konan watched as Naruto destroyed boulder after boulder this way before Kakuzu stopped him, as Konan watched she noticed that Naruto had the look of a killer the entire time.

She had seen that face almost her entire life, it was the look of somebody who wanted to kill another person, it was a look that she had seen on everyone in the Akatsuki when they wanted blood. As she watched the young Hanyou she wondered who it was he could want dead till she remembered one of Kakuzu's first reports on the boy. Not everyone who had tortured and raped him had died that night, the leader Fugaku Uchiha had gotten away. _"So that's who he sees everytime he strikes the boulders….this isn't just training this is practice for what he's planning on doing to Fugaku."_ she thought as she realized what was going on, looking closely she noticed a very grim smile on his face. _"Well he's motivated at least…."_ she thought as she left to check up on how Hitome was training Naruto's clones.

As she arrived at the clearing that Hitome was in she saw an army of some 200 Shadow Clones that were all being trained into the ground, some quite literally. As Konan watched with some amazement she saw that there were three groups of 25 that all appeared to be doing the basic leaf exercise for elemental transformation. Each group were all focusing on a different element than the other, one for Raiton, Katon, and Doton respectively. Judging from the position of the sun they had been at it for the last three hours from what Konan could tell, that's 225 hours of elemental transformation training so far that Naruto's clones have done total. _"Hmmmm now that adds up quickly, this truly is a useful jutsu. At the rate these clones are going Naruto could learn just about anything in a day, I wonder how much he'll have learned by the time I return?"_ She wondered as she looked on to see what the other clones were up to, apparently Hitome had felt that Naruto's chakra control wasn't up to snuff because she was forcing 100 of the remaining clones to do the tree walking exercise. The last group of clones were slowly going through some katas with wooden swords while reading from a scroll that a clone of Hitome monitored them, _"So you're having some of them learn a Kenjutsu style? I can see your other two clones monitoring the the other two groups from here, I must admit I'm surprised you're actually this organized Hitome-chan."_ Konan thought as she witnessed what Hitome had all of the clones doing, this is the sort of training that she would have expected any of the Five Kages to be doing not a seven year old boy. Having felt she had seen enough she dispersed herself into a cloud of paper slips and flew off back to Ame, Pein was certainly going to be pleased by her report over Naruto's progress.

Back with Naruto

Naruto was feeling good, no, he was feeling great! He felt a better with each hit that had connected with the boulders that Kakuzu summoned from the earth, each time he put Fugaku's head where the boulder was before each strike. One day there was going to be a reckoning with that man, but till then Naruto supposed he could be patient. Besides while the training was brutal and inhumane, it was also really fun in its own way, especially now that Kakuzu had started to launch smaller boulders at him. Kakuzu would launch them from different directions at fast speeds, he had made sure they were just small enough to be destroyed by each of his attacks. But big enough that Naruto had to make sure that his attacks hit home, otherwise he was in for a world of hurt like yesterday. He was really starting to get the hang of the Hate Stage now, Kakuzu was right that it doesn't have any defensive qualities because it's all offense. And while it may have powerful strikes it's slow, one of the reasons why Naruto spent most of yesterday being pummeled as he had to try and learn to compensate for the lack of speed. He was excited when he was taking a shower the night before as he went over all of his clones' memories from that day, he was ecstatic when he realized all that he had learned. His clones had finally succeeded in turning his chakra into Raiton, Katon and Doton chakra after five hours of trying! By the end of that day all 30 of his clones had succeeded in their goal, first step in his ninjutsu training had been taken and now it was time to start walking. He'd worry about running later for now he had to focus on not getting a concussion, he was still happy as hell that he'd be learning from Konan-chan in a few months. Naruto wasn't going to lie to himself about what he thought about that woman, she was beautiful, plain and simple. She was in her own way as beautiful as Kurama-chan, he couldn't put his finger on why but he was really excited to spend more time with her.

As Naruto was destroying the incoming boulders Kakuzu was keeping a very close eye on his pupil, he had to admit that the boy had talent and he showed much promise. Personally it had even given him some ideas for his own private training after seeing the results of just one day of training with Shadow Clones, he'd now have a way to finally delve into Yin and Yang release techniques. Something that he had to keep putting off for the last several years now because one thing or another just kept on popping up, now he had a method of multitasking that could be abused with almost no consequences for someone like him. He would still have to head out in another year or so to go to Uzugakure, he still remembered the last time he had been there. During the 90 day siege of Uzu….quickly shaking his head so as to keep from taking another unpleasant trip down memory lane he refocused back on his pupil. There would be plenty of time to think about such things when he was actually _there_ in Uzu, right now he had a student to abuse. With that thought in mind he dashed forward without a word of warning, and kneed Naruto in the gut.

"Sparing time gaki!" he growled as he watched Naruto roll off of the ground into a fighting position.

"Tch, fine then let's do this!" Naruto yelled back, he had already spent the last two years learning all about proper stances and combat tactics so he was used to his sensei's twisted training methods. He knew that Kakuzu felt that hammering on him would toughen him up, and it did, it had certainly done wonders for his pain tolerance if anything else.

As they began to spar Kakuzu was holding back severely so as not to kill Naruto, that didn't mean he wasn't going to make the spar hell for him though. Kakuzu made sure to capitalize on whatever hole in Naruto's technique that he saw, one way or another the boy was going to learn how to fight properly. It was a good experience for the Hanyou to know what it feels like to be outclassed by a superior opponent, to be trained while constantly fighting an uphill battle. Life and survival is a struggle, and struggle breeds greatness. And it showed in Naruto as he had taken his lessons to heart over the last two years, Kakuzu was pleased to see that there were only a few holes in Naruto's defense. But they were to be expected from starting out with this particular fighting style anyways, by the time Naruto mastered this Taijutsu style he would be a little terror, of course it wasn't the only one he would teach him….a proper shinobi must always have plenty of variety after all.

Time skip 3 months later

Hitome and Kakuzu had just finished dropping Naruto off in his bed, the day's training having tired him out that he had passed out on the table after finishing his dinner. Now they were both going over what they had been teaching the little red-haired Hanyou, they were forced to admit that he had managed to exceed all of their expectations. Thanks to the rate that he had been training at with his Shadow clones he had managed to master the first, second and third steps of elemental transformation for all three of his affinities. This had all seemed insane to the rest of the Akatsuki when they had informed them the other night about how far Naruto had come with his training, which was what led to them having to explain everything about the Shadow Clone Jutsu. Something that had most of them shocked, especially when they started to explain just how many clones Naruto had doing nature transformation exercises every day, for ten to twelve hours each day. A total of about 900 hours of training every day in just that alone, not to mention all of the hours that that were put into Kenjutsu and chakra control training courtesy of Hitome and the little Hanyou's skills skyrocketed. At the rate Naruto had progressed he had been able to master the first and second stages of Kanjo Tekina Ikari, as well as mastering all of the E and D rank techniques for his Kenjutsu style. During the last month Kakuzu had changed it up by having Naruto create another 150 clones, to go and learn elemental jutsus from 3 of his his own Shadow Clones. Naruto was able to learn at least a dozen E, D and C Rank jutsus for all three of his affinities, granted he would still need another month to practice them all in order to master them but that's something he could leave to his Shadow Clones while he trained with Konan. It seemed there was nothing that Naruto couldn't learn in a record amount of time with the Shadow Clone Jutsu, which had both of the Akatsuki members wondering how strong would Naruto be when he finally comes of age.

"So Kakuzu when is Konan going to get here?" Hitome asked as she took another swig of saki.

"She will be here tomorrow morning, given our mission we should be back in about four months at the earliest. Which means she'll have plenty of time to get him up to the same level with Suiton and Fuuton as his 3 affinities, if he learns at the same rate with us then Konan should have enough time to look into Naruto's peculiar chakra. Knowing her she'll definitely figure out a way for Naruto to take full advantage of his chakras corrosive nature, I'm interested to see what fruits _that_ will yield." Kakuzu said as he too drank from a saki saucer.

"*Hic* Yeah I know what you mean Kakuzu…*hic*" replied a tipsy Hitome.

"Why do you always have to drink so damn much?" asked Kakuzu as he looked over to his partner.

Hitome slumped forward and was resting on the table now where she remained silent for a long while, figuring that she had most likely passed out Kakuzu got up to leave when she spoke. "I was hurt once when I was little…..I was a fresh Genin for the Hidden Hotsprings Village. Back when they still were a shinobi village, my team left me behind on our first C Rank mission and I was captured by Missing Nin…...I went through everything that Naruto went through." she explained with a sad drunken smile. "They used me for months before they left me to die in the middle of Iron Country during a blizzard, that's when HE found me and saved me."

"Who?" Kakuzu asked genuinely curious now of his partner's origins, seeing that it most likely explained how she is the way she is.

"Kurai Shisai, High Priest of Lord Jashin." Hitome answered as she sat back up and downed another saucer of saki. "He told me that he had received a vision from Jashin to come and find me, Kurai traveled all the way from Demon Country to where our Lord had commanded. He took me in and washed me, fed me, clothed me, and most of all he made me feel safe. He gave me the peace of mind in knowing I would always be safe with him, for a little girl who had spent a long time being abused….that's the best thing you can do for her." Hitome said as she went ahead to down _another_ saki saucer.

"He took me with him back to Demon Country where he showed me the ways of Jashin for 5 years, I was trained, educated, and when I was able to take the trials for my Rights of Passage I was blessed. The people I was to sacrifice were not only the the bastards that raped me but also my old sensei and teammates, the looks on their faces when they saw I was alive was priceless. They begged for their lives at first…..but eventually I made them beg for death, I even got them to pledge their souls to Jashin before I killed them." Hitome smiled briefly as she started to swoon from all of the alcohol that was swimming in her system, Kakuzu was surprised she was even able to sit upright let alone continue to tell him her story.

"That night I became an immortal…..that was thirty two years ago come today. Annnnd the rest *hic* is history." Hitome said before she promptly face planted on the table completely unconscious.

Kakuzu stood there for a while thinking about what he had just heard from his normally crazed and bloodthirsty partner, this now explained a lot to him about why she was how she is now. It was almost relieving to know that there was another 'old soul' around that wouldn't age much like himself, it grew dull having to deal with being quite possibly the oldest person alive all the time. Deciding on something he walked over and picked Hitome up bridal style, as he stood up she snuggled her face into his chest for a minute. As he watched this he started to really see Hitome in another light altogether, despite her normally bloodthirsty crazed personality she was just as damaged and alone as he was. Something he hadn't thought of until now was some of the similarities that they shared now that she had revealed her past to him, with that thought in mind he went to her room and laid her on her bed. Pulling the covers over her Kakuzu watched for a minute as Hitome snuggled into her pillow for a moment before leaving, closing the door behind him he retired to his own bed for the night wondering why he had even bothered to do what he did.

 **Aaaaaannnnnnnd done! Ok this all took me much longer than I had anticipated but it was worth it because I wanted to take my time to make sure I got it right, that and work held me up for a few days. Anyways Let me know what you think of the chapter and about my decisions for all of the pairings and harems that will be coming later on. Chapter four will be focused on Naruto and Konan as they get to know one another and eventually start to bond closely, Kurama is soooooo going to tease the hell out of the poor kid, lol. If you have any questions I'll try to answer them without revealing too many spoilers and if you have an idea feel free to let me know, I'm open to suggestions!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Akuma Sannin**

 **Hey yall just as a heads up someone asked a good question about when would I be posting new chapters, well I'll be posting one up every 10-20 days(IT MAY TAKE LONGER SOMETIMES). It takes time for me to write out each chapter because I need to plan ahead how each chapter will go and what will be in each one to begin with. I mean I've got the entire outline for the story written out so I know how it will go overall it's just a matter of actually writing out the entire story, that and I'm trying to keep the whole thing as fluid and concise as possible. Don't want any inconsistencies to pop up or anything, now on to what this chapter will be about. This chapter will shift the focus from Naruto and his interactions with Kakuzu and Hitome, so now we will see how he gets along with Konan when it's just the two of them. I'm going to do a brief overview and flashback from Naruto's perspective on what the last 3 months have been like for him, as well as some of the shit he's been doing. Then it will be him and Konan for the next 4 months while Kurama teases the hell out of him, which Konan will notice and will eventually ask about after a couple of months. Also keep an eye out for the part about Konoha because things are going to be finally 'taking off' so to speak with what I plan to have happen, alot of the events where Itachi kills off the Uchiha Clan at the age of 13 will still happen. BUT I'm doing things my own damn way, also I'm going to be slipping in something special that will be happening in Kiri while Naruto is training with 'Konan-chan' that will have a fairly large impact on the story in the later chapters. I must say that while this story is going at a 'good pace' right now, it won't** _ **really**_ **take off until the Wave Arc where my story FINALLY catches up with OS….and vice versa. Till then I expect these chapters to get a little longer for a while so Enjoy!**

It was the morning that Konan was supposed to arrive and Naruto was excited, he couldn't wait to see the blue haired woman again. After everything he had learned about Raiton, Katon and Doton he was stoked about learning Fuuton and Suiton from her. He had already spent the last 3 months learning all of the ins and outs of his Shadow Clone Jutsu so that he could make the most of it during training, which just meant that he'd probably be able to pick up the last two elements just as fast. Granted Naruto knew that he'd have definitely learned them from Kakuzu like he had the others if it wasn't for this mission, but it was damn refreshing to know he'd be learning from someone else for a change. It was going to be nice to be able to hang around somebody besides those two, especially after these past two years of only seeing their faces, and of course the faces of whoever he was torturing to death.

With that thought in mind Naruto thought back to all of the training he was able to get in by abusing the Shadow Clone Jutsu, with all of those clones working for one month straight on mastering the basics of chakra control and elemental transformation. Not to mention all the others that were either going through and learning his new kenjutsu style Tetsu no Ryu, and the ones that practiced the Chameleon Jutsu which he now had mastered. By the time the second month had come his two senseis had to switch it all up so that way they could teach him actual ninjutsus, something that would eventually lead to entire parts of the surrounding forest being destroyed.

Mini Flashback

" _Alright gaki listen up." Kakuzu barked out getting the attention of one overly excited pupil._

" _Hai Kakuzu-sensei!" Naruto cried out, standing at full attention with what appeared to be small flames in his eyes._

 _Sighing to himself Kakuzu muttered "Well at least he's paying attention…" Looking around him at where they were he was suddenly VERY glad that he had decided to move Naruto's ninjutsu training over to the side of a river, especially since he was going to be teaching him Raiton, Katon and Doton ninjutsus. Two of the most destructive elements of nature with the third allowing the hyperactive Hanyou the ability to rearrange the landscape…...greeeaaat. Not._

" _Now as you know by now your control over your chakra is by now at Chunin level, which is impressive given your age and especially how large your reserves are. And thanks to your Shadow Clones doing all of the work you have even managed to get past the second stage of elemental transformation, so for now we will stop there and begin teaching you jutsus. But remember to still send out around a hundred clones or so to keep up with your chakra control exercises, your reserves will only increase and so should your control." Kakuzu lectured as he looked down at Naruto, who appeared to be absorbing what he was saying._

" _I will begin first with explaining to you about the different natures and why they are used so differently from one another, this will even tie into one of the requirements for becoming a Jounin anywhere in the elemental nations." he explained as he saw a little black notepad appear in Naruto's hand with a pen in the other, where he got them from Kakuzu could only guess._

" _The Five Elements of Nature are all unique in their own special ways and are strong against, weak against or neutral to each other. Raiton beats Doton, Doton beats Suiton, Suiton beats Katon, Katon beats Fuuton, and finally wrapping it up, Fuuton beats Raiton. If you are a Katon specialist then your worst nightmare is naturally going to be a Suiton user, for obvious reasons. But if that Katon specialist knew Doton as well, then he would have an advantage over Suiton users as well as a sure fire way of being able to properly deal with them." Kakuzu explained as Naruto wrote everything down before he looked up at him._

" _Ohhhh so that way you can cover your weakness to water attacks right?" Naruto asked gaining a nod. "But what if that Katon specialist decided to learn Fuuton instead? He could just use his Fuuton abilities to make all of his Katon attacks stronger, you said so yourself that mixing Katon and Fuuton is one of the best combinations around a couple of weeks ago." Naruto said getting a chuckle from Kakuzu._

" _Yes I did but at that point you would literally be all offense with practically no defense what so ever, a shinobi must ALWAYS have multiple ways to defend himself. If you have no defense at all then what are you going to do when you can't dodge out of the way from an incoming attack?" Kakuzu asked._

" _That's why it's normally best to learn an element that can cover the weakness of your primary element so that way you won't be caught at a disadvantage. And THEN learn another element that you could use to bolster your main element, this is why so many Katon users will try and pick up Fuuton jutsus. Or why a Suiton specialist will take up Raiton, which is another if not more perfect combination because both of those elements work so damn well together. If you combine Raiton with your Suiton jutsus you can drastically increase the power of the Suiton jutsu, giving it the ability to pierce almost as well as Raiton, AND it would electrocute whoever is hit with thousands of volts of electricity. Plus you could combine Riaton into any defensive Suiton jutsu you create which would make the shield even stronger, creating a duel elemental attack or defense." explained Kakuzu as he watched Naruto write so fast a little smoke had begun to come off of the page he was writing on._

 _Grabbing the notepad from Naruto's hand and ignoring an indignant "HEY!", he quickly looked at it seeing that it had most of what he had already told him. Till he flipped to some of the earlier pages to see Konan's and Kurama's names both surrounded by little hearts, looking back up he saw how Naruto was blushing up a storm as he tried to snatch the notepad from Kakuzu's grasp. Prompting him to simply raise his hand up higher out of the young Hanyou's reach, Kakuzu was actually somewhat amused by this little discovery. The gaki doesn't even understand what a crush is and he has one for an all powerful demoness that's thousands of years old, and one of his colleagues who's in her twenties. "Well thE gaki knows how to pick them I'll give him that much, jeez if this is how he is now I don't want to know what he'll be like when he finally hits puberty…." Kakuzu thought as he decided to just get back to the lesson at hand, there would be plenty of time to tease him over this with Hitome later._

 _Tossing it back to Naruto he spoke " I'm not even going to comment on that, back to the lesson. Now as I was saying each element has their own characteristics and when you combine them you can get fantastic results. But in order to truly utilize them to your best you need to first understand them properly and what all of their own characteristics are. Then you need to build up an arsenal of of jutsus spanning not JUST the elements you're aligned with, but the rest as well. All shinobi should have jutsus under their belt that they can use to defend themselves against whatever element beats their primary affinity, that way even if you don't even have a secondary affinity for it you will have something else to fall back on. A rule of life to remember gaki is that variety is the key to survival, which is why I've made sure to master all five of the elements." Kakuzu said as he took a few steps back and released his Raiton, Katon and Doton Mask Creatures from his back. "Now watch this and learn, because one day you will be doing the same thing." Turning around to face the stream he made the hand sign for control and called out the names of three jutsu. "Raiton: False Darkness!, Katon: Searing Migraine!, Doton: Earth Dragon God Blast!" Naruto could only watch in amazement as each of Kakuzu's Mask Creatures simultaneously performed their respective jutsus, first the Raiton Mask spat out an incredibly long beam of lightning that cut down dozens of trees in the span of half a second. While the Katon Mask spat out an incredibly large mass of flames that spread along the ground and burned everything in its path, the result was an unbelievably large bonfire. Looking over Naruto saw that the Doton Mask had slammed its fists deep into the ground, the answer to what it was doing was revealed as a huge bronze dragon head sprouted up out of the ground and roared revealing it's large stone body. It then dived back down into the earth only to spring up from the ground in the very center of the mass of flames, kicking up tons of rock and earthen debris that covered most of the flames. Thrashing around for a few moments destroying much of the landscape on the other side of the river where the other two jutsus had struck, the mighty dragon then roared a final time before exploding leaving a large crater in the aftermath._

 _Naruto for the most part was completely at a loss for words as he watched his sensei just decimate what appeared to be about 10-12 acres of dense forest in the span of a minute, looking over he saw that his sensei wasn't even tired from it. Naruto now looked on at his sensei with a new respect as he now began to truly see just how large of a gap there was between them and also, just how much he had been holding back. "So this is Ninjutsu? Those jutsus were so powerful, and Kakuzu-sensei doesn't even look like he's tired!" Naruto thought as he looked at the now rearranged landscape that was just on the other side of the river, seeing the destruction Naruto quickly resolved to one day surpass what he had seen there today. He would learn everything he could from both of his senseis and become the very best, besides, he owes them both that much at least._

 _Looking back at his young charge Kakuzu noticed the determined look in his eyes as he stared at the area that used to be filled with trees, grinning underneath his mask he knew that this would give Naruto the drive he needed to learn. Clearing his throat to gain Naruto's attention he spoke "Now…...let's begin."_

 _End of Flashback_

What would happen from that point on would be many grueling hours that Kakuzu would subject 300 of Naruto's clones to, having made plenty of Shadow Clones himself Kakuzu would have them police the horde of little Narutos as they all practiced Raiton, Katon, and Doton. Having them all break up into three groups of 100 Kakuzu would make five of his own Shadow Clones to police each of the 3 groups, meaning at any point and time there was always 15 equally scary clones of the man there to supervise. Then Kakuzu would take Naruto to another clearing beside a river where Naruto would again have to make 150 clones to practice the Water Walking Exercise, this time with only 5 of Kakuzu's clones supervising them. And while all of Naruto's clones were busy learning cool things like Ninjutsus or WALKING ON WATER!...he was stuck with the original learning the Taijutsu style Kanjo Tekina Ikari.

Meanwhile Hitome on the other hand was busy with her own group of 150 of Naruto's Shadow Clones, and was teaching them more about the Kenjutsu style Tetsu no Ryu. Having already drilled all of the basics into Naruto's head over the last month with his clones, she had decided to 'up the ante'. She had decided that it was boring to just teach him a Kenjutsu style so while she had 100 of them learning more of Tetsu no Ryu with a couple of her own clones, she herself was teaching the last 50 of the group other things. Telling them that it was always important to take in all of your surroundings in a fight, to use the very terrain to your own advantage, what she knew about Battoujutsu, 'The Art of the Drawing Sword.' Something that all samurai from the Land of Iron study, so as to be able to kill opponents in the same motion that they draw their blades, in the shortest time possible. She even taught this last group even more advanced forms and techniques for close quarters knife fighting, when one of Naruto's clones had asked why she was going to teach them that when they're already learning a sword style her answer surprised them all.

 _Flashback_

" _Ok jackass why do you think that all of those Samurai from Iron Country like to wear a Wakizashi Short sword and a Tanto knife, on top of the Katana that they always carry?" Hitome asked gaining a confused shrug from him and the rest of his fellow clones._

" _It's because the Samurai know that they won't always be able to rely on their swords in every single fight, they know that sometimes they won't ever even be able to draw them in certain fights. What if they had to fight indoors in a confined space? Those Katanas are normally 28-36 inches in blade length alone, do you know how much of a pain it would be to fight with something that big in a small space? Or what if they have to take on two opponents at the same time? Then they could simple draw their Wakizashi out and would have two swords in their hands to parry and block from multiple angles and sides. Samurai train to be able to fight in multiple Taijutsu styles, several different forms of knife fighting, all on top of their primary school of Kenjutsu. They even use various forms of Shurikenjutsu and Kyujutsu or archer, so that they can fight opponents from any ranged distance possible. They train to fight in any situation, in any environment, and from ANY RANGE. Sometimes you won't be able to draw your sword, sometimes you won't even be able to draw a knife…..that's why we're making you learn all of these things, so that way you know how to defend yourself in any situation like we can." Hiome said finishing her lecture, it felt weird for her as she stood there like some kind of actual sensei. The Naruto clones didn't know where all of THAT had come from and simply chalked it up to Hitome going into some sort of 'sensei mode', but what she said really did stick with them. There really WILL be a time when cool Ninjutsu, or Kenjutsu won't be on the table for him, no wonder Kakuzu-sensei keeps pushing him so hard in Taijutsu._

 _End of Flashback_

It had certainly been interesting all of the things that Naruto had learned as he thought of all of the things that his Kenjutsu style offered him, it was really something and after the first two weeks it really started to click with him. With all of those clones working from 7 am to 5 pm every day he had managed to master every E and D rank jutsu in his Kenjutsu scroll, even a couple C rank ones as well. For some reason he had really taken to the Kenjutsu style finding that he really enjoyed how natural the various katas and jutsus felt whenever he went through them, he still remembered how just last week one some of his clones were able to skewer his Hitome. All of his clones needed to do the Chakra Scabbard jutsu with their boken just to withstand their sensei's onslaught, a few of them had went ahead and kept their sensei busy while several others performed the Drying Pole and Pressure Wave techniques from multiple angles. The Drying Pole jutsu allows one to coat their chakra along the weapon and with a piercing thrust they can EXTEND the reach of their weapon almost like a beam of energy, by almost 10 feet. While the Pressure Wave jutsu involved taking the chakra channeled along your sword and swinging it in a slashing manner, creating a crescent moon shaped blade of energy that can travel up to 100 feet and is capable of cutting boulders. Both are equally powerful cutting and piercing techniques that are a labeled as C rank jutsus, that Hitome was able to block with ease. What she wasn't expecting however was the last clone that had been hiding the whole time, that came crashing down on her from up above and behind her performing a brutal impaling attack. Having formed a Chakra Scabbard over his boken the clone had jumped high into the air while Hitome's back was turned, turning the now dangerous weapon over so it that the point was aimed towards earth the clone let gravity do the rest of the work. Hitome didn't actually know what had hit her till the tip of the clone's now fairly sharp chakra boken pierced her heart and stuck out of her chest at a downward angle. While at the same time she felt a force send her face first into the dirt with the full weight of the clone crashing down on her back, the Dragon Hammer Strike: Tragedy certainly lived up to its name that morning. What had all of the clones there shocked was that Hitome wasn't even angry when she got back up, she even congratulated the clone that managed to get her. Saying that if he had done that on any other person it would have been an instant kill, she continued to pat the clone's head till she looked down after noticing a draft. Seeing that her chest wraps had been destroyed by that last attack it had also destroyed her chest bandages, which allowed anyone that was looking at her a full view of her breasts. Seeing how most of the clones were now blushing and trying to look away Hitome did the only thing she could at that point…...she slaughtered every….single….clone….and then beat the shit out of the real Naruto for 'being a little pervert'.

This wouldn't be the end however, as this had sparked a brutal campaign on Kakuzu's and especially Hitome's part to mercilessly tease poor Naruto. Both of them and every single one of their clones would jump at any chance to tease him, for 'trying to get a peek at his Hitome-sensei's goodies', or worse yet teasing him over Konan or Kurama. And Kurama was no help either as she had jumped in on it with a sick and twisted gusto, that was matched only by Hitome's enthusiasm to make Naruto miserable. They had openly wondered just WHAT he was up to in the mindscape for so long every night, questioning his integrity to not take advantage of 'his Kurama-chan' while she's 'all locked up and at his mercy'. THAT especially was made worse when Kurama had 'suddenly', decided that there was one part of Naruto's education that was lacking. And had taken it upon herself to teach Naruto all about the 'birds and the bees', and all about the differences between men and women and worst of all…..where babies come from. What made it worse was that Kurama had gone ahead and made sure in advance that they would have a whole month in the mindscape that night to have 'the talk', an entire topic that left the poor boy scared for life. Especially the parts about Shibari and bondage, seriously what the fuck is wrong with adults?!

Shuddering Naruto quickly shook his head to clear his mind of those thoughts as he sensed something coming from the North East, looking up he squinted his eyes as he looked at what was coming. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw thousands of slips of paper fly through the air towards their position only to stop a few dozen feet in the air in front of them. Gathering together they a humanoid shape started to form, as more and more of the papers fused together to become one the clearer the form became. Naruto could only stare gobsmacked as the humanoid revealed itself to be none other than Konan, who was floating there in the air with what looked like angel wings made out of paper on her back. She was wearing the the same Akatsuki cloak as before which obscured most of her features, as she softly touched down Naruto could only gulp as he was once again speechless. _"She really is an angel…."_ Naruto thought as Konan walked over to him.

"Hello Naruto-kun, it's good to see you again." Konan said she looked Naruto right in the eyes.

"H-Hello Konan-sensei." Naruto stammered out as he tried to keep from saying something stupid, _"What is wrong with me? I don't get like this unless I'm around Kurama-chan, I need to get my shit together."_ Naruto thought to himself as he looked at his new teacher.

"Hey Konan-chan!" Hitome chirped to her fellow female, honestly glad to see another person besides her pain in the ass partner, or Naruto.

"Hello Hitome, how've you been?" replied Konan.

"Meh, can't complain. Sooooooo anyways while you're here you should know that Naruto here is a little card sharp, and you shouldn't get into a poker game with him. The liquor cabinet is locked right now but if you want something just ask Naruto he has a spare key, and also he knows everything about his elements up to C Rank. If you want to pop his cherry by teaching him a B Rank or three then the scrolls are in the usual spot, oh and you never did answer my question about you and the leader." Hitome said getting a sly smirk on her face near the end.

Not letting that get to her Konan answered. "Good, I'll make sure he gets Suiton and Fuuton up to the same level as his three affinities. As well as teach him a B Rank jutsu for each element such as the Elemental Dragon Jutsu, by the way Kakuzu you should know that the person you will be facing wields the Vollund." she said gaining a look of interest from the much taller man.

"The Vollund? Huh…..so the idiot really did steal it afterall…" Kakuzu mused as he thought about what that could mean for him and Hitome on their mission. _"This will certainly make things interesting…."_ he thought to himself.

"Uhhhh what's the Vollund and why is it important?" Naruto asked now curious.

"It's an artefact of immense power that was wielded by the first Tsuchikage himself, a man who could easily fight on par with Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha _without_ having to use the weapon. It's a large two-handed Warhammer with a spike on the back end of the head, as well as another spike at the end of the haft. The man we're after is one of his descendants who stole it from Iwagakure when he defected, a man by the name of Kanetora Kusoyaro. We've been trying to get at him for the last couple of years, I can't wait to sacrifice him to Jashin!" Hitome explained as a crazed look started to form on her face, she had crossed paths with that asshole before and she REALLY wanted 'catch up' with him.

Konan quirked an eyebrow at this. "You certainly know a lot about him and his weapon in particular….an old friend of yours perhaps?" she asked.

"Ha! No that asshole just got away from me the last time we crossed paths and I've been meaning to finish what I started with him since then." came Hitome's reply as everyone could see a VERY evil Oni start to appear behind her. The 'one that got away' was in for a _very_ bad reunion with Hitome…..

"Anyways we need to go now, Konan, if there's anything you need it's in the base and if you have any questions then you know how to contact us. Hitome let's go." And with that Kakuzu turned around and started to walking away, giving a quick wave Hitome followed suit and caught up to Kakuzu. Naruto for one was glad that Hitome had at least waved goodbye before leaving, he knew it wasn't going to happen with Kakuzu because that man just wouldn't do something like that. He had a sad smile of acceptance cross over his face till he saw Kakuzu do something that was very out of character for him, while he was walking away he simply raised his hand and waved without looking back. As if to say 'See you around', after getting over most of his shock Naruto let out a genuine smile as he watched his two senseis disappear. _"Huh, I guess I'm finally starting to get through to him. Who knows in another ten years he might actually say good morning to me…...Naaaah."_ Naruto thought to himself as he chuckled, he'd never admit it but he would miss those two while they were gone. Deciding to get things over with he looked back to Konan, he couldn't help but feel excited at learning from her. He already was having a blast from practicing all of his Raiton, Katon and Doton jutsus as it is, now he got to learn about the most offensive and the most versatile of the elements!

Clearing his throat Naruto spoke "So Konan-sensei ready to get started? Or would you like to unpack first?" he asked trying to be polite.

Konan who had been watching Naruto the entire time that he had interacted with Kakuzu and Hitome was honestly surprised, by Naruto's reactions she could tell that the boy really cared about them. Enough to want their approval for sure which would probably shift over to herself as well, given how he appeared to have a little 'crush' on her. Something she actually found to be rather amusing and sweet, he's definitely a sweet little boy for sure. Those fox ears and tale just make him look that much more adorable. It made Konan wonder though just how soft his fur must be. Not many people would know this but Konan had always had a love for animals, finding them to generally be much more pure and kind than most people. It never ceased to amaze her how compassionate some animals can truly be at times, like how a lioness will take care of a baby monkey till it's all grown up. Or how a mother wolf will protect even a human child from danger, such acts of compassion are rarely seen from humans nowadays, and almost never as profound. From watching Naruto she could tell that the boy had a lot of love to give, and deep down probably saw Kakuzu and Hitome as some form of surrogate parents.

"Yes we can start right now, I can unpack later but for now let's go over to the river to begin your lessons." she said walking in the direction of what she knew had recently become Naruto's personal training grounds.

"Ok!" Naruto responded happily as he walked besides his new sensei in somewhat comfortable silence.

Upon reaching their destination Konan turned around to Naruto and spoke. "Alright Naruto-kun first before we begin I want you to explain to me the natures of the different elemental transformations. I wish to know if you truly understand them." she said gaining a shrug from Naruto.

"Well ok, each element has it's own unique properties and can be used to produce different results. Each element is strong against and weak to another element, while remaining neutral to the rest. Likewise each element can be used to attack and defend differently, Katon is the most destructive element and could be described as a flamethrower or a bomb. It will generate intense amounts of heat, you can also create certain substances that allow you to spread flames in different ways all over the place. Suiton is the most versatile element of them all, due to its every changing nature it can be used in more ways than the other elements. Be it offense or defense, supplementary or even healing jutsus and when it is used to attack it will deal internal concussive damage and could characterized as a shield and flail. Doton is the stubborn and defensive element, it is the most neutral element there is which is why it is the easiest for anyone to learn. It could be described as a Tetsubo or a hammer, because Doton is the crushing, pulverizing element which deals all blunt force damage. Raiton is easily the fastest element that there is, with the natural ability to pierce its way through anything and any defense. While also electrocuting whatever you strike with it, it can pierce right through your targets, it can be transferred through many different mediums such as water, metals, your weapons, your fists, or the ground to your targets allowing you many different ways to get at your enemies. And finally Fuuton is the most offensive element that there is as it has almost no defensive qualities or capabilities to speak of, it's almost all offense. Fuuton is the cutting element creating razor sharp and thin blades that can cut damn near anything to ribbons, the best part is that they're incredibly difficult to see. You can use Fuuton to blow away your enemies or cut them in half from almost any range, and when you use it with Kenjutsu you can sharpen and lengthen the reach of your blades. And the best part is that your opponents won't be able to see it unless they have a doujutsu active, hell from what I've read most Fuuton attacks are almost invisible because of their nature made up of _air._ " Naruto said having finished the rather long explanation, he might not have needed to say all of that but he wanted to make a good impression on his new sensei.

And indeed Konan was in fact impressed by Naruto's explanation, not many of the Jounin back in Ame could give her as good as an explanation as Naruto just gave. It wasn't surprising however given who his teachers have been for the past two years, and even after receiving weekly reports from Kakuzu on Naruto's progress these past 3 months she still found it unreal. The boy was only about a week or so away from mastering every jutsu for his three affinities all the way up to C Rank, she would have to force him for this month to get Fuuton and Suiton up to the same level. Then she would have him spend their second month truly mastering each jutsu he knew till they only required a handsign, which would be easy since none of his known jutsus are even B Rank…

"Very good Naruto-kun, now we can begin. First off I want you to make 300 Shadow Clones and have them break up into groups of 150, then each group is going to practice learning how to change their chakra into either Suiton or Fuuton chakra. I'll have some of my own clones keep an eye out on them and help them wherever they can, meanwhile you and I are going to keep up with your Tai and Kenjutsu. I know from Kakuzu's reports that you have been apparently enjoying your Kenjutsu lessons immensely, even Hitome said you showed a great aptitude for it. So leave however many clones you want to continue practicing and come with me." and without saying another word Konan turned and left for the spot where she had last seen Naruto practicing his Taijutsu.

The walk to Naruto's taijutsu field was silent as neither said a word, internally however was a different story for the both of them. Naruto was wondering if Konan was just naturally a bit of a stiff or some kind of robot, and Konan was wondering how far along Naruto had truly come with his Taijutsu. As they arrived at the clearing Konan's eyes briefly widened as she saw just how ruined the place was, there were scorch marks and destroyed trees everywhere, boulders that looked like they had been eaten away by acid, and dead grass. It looked more like a couple of Chunins had decided to put this area through hell instead of a little 7 year old learning Taijutsu, Konan was now starting to wonder just what Kakuzu had _really_ been teaching Naruto.

Looking over to Naruto she decided to test him to see what he was REALLY capable of, knowing Kakuzu she just _knew_ that this boy was capable of more than he had let on. Without warning she grabbed Naruto by the front of his shirt and through him through the air, she watched impassively as he caught himself and turned in midair. As Naruto landed in a crouching position his body subtly tensed as he started to sharpen his senses and focus, having gone into his own little battle mode he was now hyper aware of everything around him. _"Kakuzu told me she might try to 'test me'...hehehehehe this is going to be fun…"_ Naruto thought as a grin split his face wide open. Sliding into the appropriate stance he focused as he prepared to attack, his face now changing from a grin.

Konan meanwhile was wondering what was going on with Naruto as she saw him go from having an ear splitting grin to a look of pure hate, which was unexpected given his rather chipper demeanor until now. She looked on as Naruto charged her at some rather impressive speeds for a seven year old, certainly Chunin level speed but not enough. Deciding it would be best to fight at a level that would be _just_ out of his reach, she quickly moved to dodge, after all she needed to see what he could do. As Naruto's kick made contact with the tree that was behind her Konan narrowed her eyes as she watched the trunk explode from the impact, _"That can't be normal at all…"_ she thought to herself. She being a sensor decided to expand her senses to study just _what_ Naruto was really doing, as her senses touched Naruto she could feel the rolling chakra that was coming off of him. Konan had to keep on the move as Naruto was not letting up in the slightest throwing elbows, punches and kicks at her that seemed to just destroy whatever they came into contact with. As she analyzed what she was seeing with her eyes and her 'mind's eye', she could tell almost immediately that Naruto was overloading each of his attacks. But what had her stumped for the first few seconds was that he didn't seem to be trying, that was till she realized that he _was_ trying, trying to _hold back from using too much chakra._ As the realization set in Konan's eyes briefly widened as it dawned on her that it was simply a matter of chakra control versus total reserves, Naruto simply has so much chakra that he can't control it at all. Even with the training the past two years and all of those Shadow Clones working round the clock to up his control there's only so much one can do in three months, with reserves as massive as his it will probably take Naruto years to gain proper control over it. _"It's no small wonder now how he's able to get those types of results while he's been training, he's pumping too much of that volatile chakra of his into each attack…...no wonder his attacks have been corroding away trees and boulders."_ Konan thought to herself as she witnessed another change come over Naruto. Studying his face and sensing his emotions she was able to discern only one thing that was rolling off of him now, as opposed to earlier where the only thing he seemed to be feeling was just pure _hatred._ Now she could tell that Naruto was feeling absolute _envy,_ something that had her wondering how Naruto was able to switch between feeling SO MUCH of two completely different emotions.

Disappearing from view Naruto appeared directly behind Konan and let loose a punch to the back of her neck, Konan having easily sensed him spun around to block only to see that it was a feint as Naruto dropped to the ground and spun around attempting to sweep her feet from under her. Jumping up Konan decided go on the attack as she let off a kick at Naruto's face, who responded by placing his right palm on her incoming ankle to deflect it. While moving forward he spun around Konan using their close proximity, and then slammed his elbow into her back. Konan for one was actually impressed by Naruto's ability to adapt and improvise, even though she was holding back to a level a little bit above his. She still wasn't expecting him to land any real hit on her, that being said she still wasn't going to give him an easy time. Whipping around Konan promptly dropped Naruto with a spinning side kick, as Naruto landed on the grass with a groan he quickly kipped back onto his feet. As Naruto began to attack again Konan noticed that once again his emotions had changed to that of pure rage, as he neared her he thrust his palm out at her left knee. As expected Konan moved her leg out of the way avoiding the burst of chakra he had sent from his hand, bringing her left leg back she then kicked Naruto across the chest sending him flying back. It wasn't _too hard_ of a kick as she was reminding herself to tone it down against a little kid, looking back at where she had felt the boy's chakra travel she saw a crater in the ground about the size of her head and roughly 3 inches deep. _"Hmmmm, that last attack must be centered around bypassing armor or blocks from weapons…..Kakuzu said that Naruto had mastered the first two stages of his Taijutsu style. He must have had clones practicing somewhere else as well to have mastered the first two stages this fast….and it would appear Kakuzu went ahead and taught him a bit about the third stage as well. Well he certainly wasn't lying when he said that Naruto had mastered the first two stages, every one of his katas were flawless. He obviously doesn't have the third stage down yet, his stance going into that stage was sloppy compared to how he fought earlier…..still it was a 'good' attack."_ She thought to herself as she watched Naruto get up slowly while holding his stomach, Konan would have to help him perfect his technique with the Third Stage as well as see what else he had learned.

Holding up a hand to get Naruto to cease Konan spoke. "Enough Naruto-kun, I've seen all that I need to for now. While I didn't know that you had begun to learn about the Third Stage I can tell you obviously don't have any mastery over it yet, which is something we will be working on. While you do have the first two stages mastered you should refrain from attempting techniques in a fight that you haven't mastered, only the desperate or the foolish do such things." Konan lectured getting an affirmative nod from Naruto who appeared to have reverted back to his usual self.

"Hai Sensei!" Naruto said rather pleased to be recieving any sort of praise from her.

"While we were fighting I noticed that for each stage that you used you were only experiencing one particular emotion at a time, and to extreme degrees. Do you mind explaining that to me? Because from what I have been able to gather your fighting style seems to be based solely off of your emotions." she asked genuinely curious about the particulars of his Taijutsu style, Kakuzu had never really gone into any great detail about it.

"Well Konan-sensei you're right about it being based off of my emotions, each stage is dedicated to one particular emotion. And with it a different set of moves to perform very specific functions, some are more defensive or offensive than others, while others can allow me to attack from a distance. I can only feel one emotion at a time when I'm using a specific stage of fighting, and it's always to the extreme so that way that one emotion will always act like a fuel for my Taijutsu." Naruto explained gaining an understanding look from Konan.

" _Makes sense that someone like Kakuzu would know a Taijutsu style like this…."_ she thought as she looked Naruto up and down. "Alright well while we improve your Taijutsu were going to make sure that you master your third stage so that way you can move onto the fourth. I'm not familiar with the various stages however which is why you will be learning from a scroll that Kakuzu left for you, it should have everything you need to know about the third and fourth stages." she said as she took off her Akatsuki trench coat.

Looking at her as she took her coat off Naruto couldn't help but feel a slight blush come up as he was finally able to see what she was wearing underneath it. She was wearing a revealing navy blue robe for a top that had a very large hemline in the front and left her arms and back exposed. Naruto could see the lateral part of her breasts and belly from thanks to the hemline as well as her navel which was surrounded by four piercings, she had her headband hanging off of her right hip and wore a pair of blue pants that also functioned as her shoes with high heels.

All in all she was stunning to see and Naruto was doing all he could not to stare at her, _"Gah! What the hell is wrong with me?! Why do I keep blushing every time something like this happens with women around me?"_ he thought furiously as he tried to keep his blush under control, something that irritated him to no end over having to do in the first place.

" _Ooooooooo….does someone have a crush?"_ came the sing song voice of Kurama in his head.

" _Oh Kami no…."_ he thought in horror as he heard his inner demoness speak to him.

" _Naruto and Konan sitting in a tree…."_ she began to sing.

" _Nooooooo….nonono…"_

" _K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"_

" _Stoooopp!"_ he thought desperately as he plugged his ears in attempt to 'mute her out'.

Meanwhile Konan was watching this go on with a sweatdrop as she wondered what his demon 'Kurama' was saying to him, deciding to get things back on track she cleared her throat to get his attention. "Now Naruto-kun I'm going to be training you a little differently from Kakuzu, I won't be flinging boulders at you….." she said.

"Wha?! REALLY?! That's awesome you're the best Konan-sensei!" he said happily, while he may have enjoyed how strong he had become from the training but that didn't mean he liked dealing with all of those boulders.

"Thankyou….because I'm going to be sending Suiton bullets at you." Konan said with a smirk as she watched Naruto's face take on a look of pure horror, meanwhile Kurama was laughing her ass off.

" _Muahahahahahahaha! Ohhhhh she...is...GOOD!"_ she cackled as she hugged her sides from inside the seal, this woman had only been around for not even an hour and she already liked her.

In Konoha

Hiruzen sighed as he looked over at the clock on the wall, it was 6:30 in the afternoon and his meeting with the Inuzuka Clan Head was supposed to happen right now. It had been a couple of weeks since Naruto's seventh birthday, the pain had lessened considerably over the years but it still hurt every now and then to think about it. His time with Koharu and the rest of his family had certainly helped him to recover to a point where he could be at peace, but there was still the occasional sleepless night where all he could do was stare at the ceiling and count the minutes till his alarm went off. As the door opened Hiruzen looked to see the man who had entered, he was a tall man standing at a burly 6'5". He had very spiky and unruly brown hair which he kept tied back in a ponytail that reached his lower back, save for the two large bangs that framed his face reaching down to his chest. He he had a mustache and goatee that he had grown out to reach his chest, all throughout his facial hair and the bangs framing his face were beads. Some were made from bone with Kanji symbols carved into them, while others were made of metal or silver and in the shape of skulls or three-headed dogs. He wore a simple short sleeved black shirt as well as Anbu style cargo pants with black combat boots, on his shins and forearms were large greaves and bracers. All which had the design of a large 3-headed dog adorning them, he wore a tactical utility belt with 2 medium sized shinobi pouches strapped to it at the small of his back. At each of his hips were a total of 3 scrolls in their own individual carrier pouches, over his shirt he wore a much more heavily armor plated version of a Jounin Tactical Vest. It also had large rounded dark metal shoulder pauldrons with 3 starling dogs' heads embossed onto the front of them, the vest offering almost complete protection for the large man's entire upper torso. On the back of his vest was a fur lining that was almost identical to the Nindaime Hokage's only the fur was pitch black, and strapped to the very back were two large hook bladed chain weapons, that appeared to almost glow with their own pale purple light. Hiruzen knew very well what those weapons were, The Claws of Cerberus were infamous throughout the shinobi world for being blessed by both the Shinigami and the legendary beast Cerberus itself.

As Hiruzen looked at the man he had been waiting to meet with he could only wonder at just why the man had never even attempted to become the next Hokage, only ever giving vague answers about why he wouldn't take the position. Hiruzen knew full well that if there was no other option only _then_ would he step up and take the title, nothing would change the fact that he would absolutely _HATE_ having the position though. It's almost funny when he thought about it, here was a man whose' very presence was both inspiring and also terrifying. Okami Inuzuka had always been a very _different_ individual, he had always wanted to do things his way and come up with his own methods for doing things from a very young age. Hiruzen had always known when he had first laid eyes on him that he was someone who would become VERY powerful, Hiruzen never thought that he would become a powerful S Rank shinobi at such a young age however….. It just happened one day out of the blue back before Hiruzen had even given Minato the title of Hokage, Okami had simply walked up to all three of his students, Jaraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru and challenged them all to a duel. The fight was a three on one that took up one of the largest training grounds that Konoha had to offer, it was a massive fight that had completely rearranged the field permanently. It had drawn the attention of most of the Shinobi populace and many of the civilians as well, at the end of the day Okami had won the duel. That was the day he became the new Clan Head of the Inuzuka Clan and was officially recognized as a S Rank shinobi, that was also the first time he demonstrated his mastery over all five of the elements and even incorporating all of them into all of his clan jutsus.

From that moment on he had begun to drastically change all of his clan's original laws as well as teaching his mate Tsume and many of his chief lieutenants as much as he could, within a two year time period their clan scroll had easily tripled in size. As Hiruzen looked at him he wondered what it was that he wanted, Okami had never in his life personally asked for a private meeting with him before. And Okami Inuzuka was never a man to speak unless it was actually important, a trait that had many people heeding his advice whenever he seldom gave it.

"Ah Okami-san how good to see you, punctual as ever I see. So what can I do for you? You've never requested a meeting with me before now, so it must be important." Hiruzen said with a small smile.

Quirking his lips into a small smile of his own the larger man nodded his head, he had always enjoyed the company and conversations that he shared with the elder shinobi. Sitting down with a small chuckle he responded. "It's good to see you too Hokage-sama, and it's true I've never requested a personal meeting with you till now because I never saw the need for one until now." he said looking his leader square in the eyes. Briefly flicking his eyes across the office from side to side he looked back at his leader, as if answering to an unspoken request Hiruzen nodded and made a very subtle signal for his ANBU to leave. Once they had gone the air seemed to _crack_ around them as unseen security seals activated around the office, the looks on both mens' faces having lost all of their humor as they looked at one another.

"Now" Hiruzen said as the last of the seals was activated. "What is this about?" he simply asked as his face took on the mask of the 'God of Shinobi'.

"It's been three years old man…" Okami said now speaking plainly. "It's been almost three years since all of these rapes first started to happen, I think we both know by now that our mysterious little 'phantom' was most likely practicing for those first seven months before Naruto was lost."

"Hai…. I believe that that man, whoever he is, was indeed preparing for that horrible night as well. Why else would we have found his semen there along with everyone else's?" Hiruzen asked confirming what Okami had already suspected.

"Yes but that's the problem, not only that but the sheer length of time that he has been able to walk scott free, old man, _no one is that good….._ "

"What do you mean exactly?" Hiruzen quarried now truly curious as to what Okami was getting at.

"What I mean is that after almost _3 years,_ you, the ANBU, my Hunter nins, and all of the Military Police Force have not been able to find this _one man._ A man who has been able to elude capture in the very heart of the strongest Major Hidden Village of all, whom not even the entire Inuzuka or Uchiha clans are able to find. Hiruzen…." Okami said, stressing the importance of what he was about to say. "No one is _that good._ I believe that our 'phantom rapist' is somebody who is in a position of power here within the village, someone who is knows the entire system of this village inside and out. Someone who also has access to all of the Military Police files pertaining to the rapist, if a police force made up entirely of Sharingan users are incapable of finding _one man_ within this village...then someone is tampering with evidence. It must be either one of the higher ups within the police force, or their leader."

Hiruzen froze at this, those were some incredibly bold words to speak even to imply. One does not just spout such things like that off without some concrete evidence to back the theory up, the problem however is that Okami was right. Nobody has been able to get a single lead on this man for almost 3 years, and given all that has happened in that time Okami was once again right in saying, 'no one is that good'. _"Hell I doubt even I am that good, even if I was committing all of these rapes I still would have been caught by now…."_ Hiruzen thought to himself.

"But what of his these past two years? He has laid low till recently picking back up again-"

"Sigh, Hiruzen you know as well as I do that ANYONE who is smart enough to elude capture here for longer than 6 months, while committing dozens of rapes….is certainly smart enough to figure out when to lay low. ESPECIALLY with you turning the entire village upside down and inside out for an entire year, that would scare anyone into hiding. Those five rapes he committed throughout his two year hiding were merely for him to let off some steam, and to reward himself for not getting caught." Okami interrupted knowing full well what Hiruzen might have said in response, it's a hard pill for anyone to swallow. Hell it was hard for him when he finally came to the realization in the first place, and that was when his memory had decided to kick in.

"Yes yes, you make a very good point. This will not be an easy thing to prove at all, if what you're saying is true then Fugaku has been abusing his power and position this entire time, constantly staying ahead of us all. And what's worse he has been right there in the perfect position to get away with all of it…" Hiruzen spoke, though mostly to himself.

"There is one more thing however Hokage-sama….that day two years ago when you held the emergency meeting for Naruto's disappearance."

"Yes, what of it?"

"I remember smelling hormones and light amounts of semen coming off of Fugaku, I didn't give it a lot of thought because of the meeting we were in. And with everything that has happened that year alone, I just forgot about it all together." Okami said, looking down in shame. "It wasn't until just last night when I was thinking about how the rapist could have eluded capture for 3 years, _that's_ when it hit me…" he said looking back up into the eyes of his leader.

"I see…." Hiruzen replied whilst closing his eyes, trying to take in all that the man was saying. That one year alone saw more executions than in all of the village history, he himself had personally sent Okami and some of his most trusted men such as Kakashi or Gai after more criminals than he could count. How could anyone remember such a small detail in the wake of the storm that hit the village?

"What do you think we should do then about this Okami?"

"We will need the help of the Aburame, and we will need to be _very_ careful about how we do this. Fugaku has had these past three years to perfect his methods and come up with more alibis than we can count, there is a reason he was made head of the Military Police Force after all. If we are going to catch him then we will need to do it while he is in the act, it is the only way. If it is not him or even one of the others within police force than so be it, no harm done and we were able to cross all of them off of the list for good. And at least we were able to play it safe….but Hiruzen….." Okami spoke, his eyes now hard. Leaning forward he looked his Kage in the eyes.

"When we capture him….he's mine…." Okami growled out as his canines instinctually lengthened.

"Done." Hiruzen honestly didn't want to know what horrors Okami had in store for Fugaku, but one thing for sure was that it was going to be messy. _"If that's the case, then I wonder if there will even be anything left of Fugaku once Okami is done with him."_

Somewhere in a land of mists and great sorrow

It was unusually cold tonight as a shadow made its way through the village, a thin layer of frost was covering the village tonight. Stopping to look up the shadow of a man saw the full moon out tonight, he couldn't help but stop to admire its beauty. It was so large tonight that it illuminated the entire village, The Hunter's Moon, a sight he had rarely had the pleasure of seeing. Shaking his head he pressed on as he made his way to the building at the center of the village, he had business tonight with the Mizukage. As he made his way to the Mizukage Tower he thought about what had been going on in the most recent years, he couldn't figure out why his friend had changed the way that he did. Yagura was one of the most peace loving saps he had ever known and the way he used to talk about reforming Kiri, it had even had him convinced that Kiri could become so much more than just being 'the Bloody Mist Village'. He remembered how Yagura was so passionate about helping everyone within the village, saying how he wouldn't rest until everyone was happy. It had all started that day 4 years ago when he had at the last second changed his mind about doing away with the old graduation method for the Shinobi Academy, he should have questioned him right then. He should have kicked up a fuss and raised hell forcing Yagura to undergo some sort of test, looking back it was so clear to him now that at some point somebody had gotten to his best friend. Somebody had been controlling Yagura, and he was going to put a stop it all tonight even if it meant killing his best friend.

Stopping on top of one of the buildings surrounding the Mizukage Tower the masked man took stock of the way that the patrols were going, since that day Yagura had become a monster. Taking away more and more basic rights from those with bloodlines, all the while poisoning those around him into hating and discriminating against them. Until he had enacted his 'final solution' to the problem 'plaguing Kiri', he had created the Bloodline Purges. Scores and hundreds of men, women and children were being slaughtered in front of him and all he would do was smile and laugh, the peaceful man he once knew was long gone and dead. And over the past year he had started to surround himself with those who were loyal only to him, with those who took as much pleasure in killing innocents as he did. Steeling himself he stood up and went about his task, he couldn't afford to let anyone inside interfere with what he was about to do. He would simply have to kill them all, can't afford to have anyone get in his way.

As the clouds briefly covered the moon a large shadow passed over him just as one of the Kiri patrols looked his way, the two of them waited till the moon was back out and only saw an empty roof. That would be the last thing they would see in this world before a long blade was thrust through the backs of their necks, severing their spinal cords and killing them instantly. They never even hit the ground as they were instantly sealed into a small but incredibly powerful Stasis/Storage Seal that was tattooed on the man's left arm, but not before adding a slip of paper onto the their chests. He went throughout the entire compound slaughtering all that he came across, he was Yagura's right hand man so he knew everyone who was there that night and there rounds. He knew what these men had all done within the past couple of years, bullying and oppressing people with bloodlines, destroying homes, raping and murdering women on their wedding nights and slaughtering entire families. Oh yes he knew very well who all of these men were and had gone to great lengths over the last few weeks to get the absolute worst of them all here tonight, tonight was a night of blood and punishment and they were being judged.

As the man swept through the area he made sure to leave no trace of his presence, not even a drop of blood had been spilled on the ground as he silently cut his way through the Jounins and ANBU patrolling the Mizukage Tower. After having finally finished off the last of them he stopped to look up at the Hunter's Moon, it had been his ally this night and looking closely he could see a blood red tinge along e the edges. _"Hmmmm….how...fitting…"_ he thought to himself as he made his way into the tower itself from the roof, knew very well where Yagura was going to be. The Tower had a very large training area at the top floor above the Mizukage Office, that provided a view of the entire village from all directions. Something that he was going to make use of tonight, if anyone heard anything they would most likely chalk it up to their leader doing some late night training. Now that he was inside he made his way across the ceiling weaving in between the many surrounding pillars, using chakra to stick to the ceiling. He could see his target in sight as he made his way up to him, Yagura had just been standing there looking up at the moon. As the masked man dropped 50 feet to the ground, landing behind Yagura without making a sound he stood up, he knew that Yagura was aware of his presence, he could tell by the way that his posture had changed. Yagura had briefly tensed as he had put his hand on the rail in front of him, he had seen it just after he had entered the room.

"Hello Zabuza…" Yagura said as he turned around to face his assassin. Yagura was an incredibly short man who barely reached 5 feet in height, he had messy grey hair and pupiless pink eyes. He had a stitch scar running down from his left eye to his chin, he wore a sleevelss grey shirt with a Kiri Hitae-ate on the front. He had short sleeved mesh armor over which he also wore a poncho and a turquiose sash around his waist and a green apron around his pants with brown boots. Strapped across his back was a large pole with differently sized hooks and a large green flower on next to the larger hook, his gaze was impassive as he looked up at the man who towered over him. Looking over his old friend Yagura honestly couldn't imagine a worse opponent to come and attempt to assassinate him, Zabuza knew all there was to know about him. They had been friends for years and if there was one person who had ever been able to beat him then it was none other than Zabuza, Yagura had only ever been able to contend with him in close quarters due to his own weapon being just as large. Especially when he made use of the hooks on his staff against Zabuza's sword, but he just couldn't hope to stand up to him in a contest of sheer power. And what was worse was the fact that while they were both masters of Suiton ninjutsu, Zabuza was also a master of Raiton ninjutsu though that was a little known fact. Thankfully he had mastered Fuuton ninjutsu so he could still hold an advantage over Zabuza, it would appear that he couldn't even trust his closest friends after all.

Stepping out from the shadows Zabuza revealed himself, he stood at a towering 6' 6" with with a very muscular build. With pale skin, short spiky black hair and small eyebrows, he wore a sleeveless black shirt with matching black ANBU cargo pants, complete with a waist guard. Over that was a black leather utility belt with a skull themed buckle, at each of his hips were what appeared to be two bone daggers in sheaths made out of bone and cast iron. At the back of his belt was a very large shinobi pouch, and sitting strapped across his back attached to a single magnetized belt was his primary weapon the Kubikiriboucho. Easily one of the largest swords in the world, and was known to be one of the only other blades in existence to match the Samehada. On his legs and arms were demon themed shin and arm bracers that came up to his knees and also protected his knuckles, as Yagura looked his old friend up and down he noticed something different. Zabuza's eyes were no longer dark brown but instead seemed to be glowing in the dark with a their own steady purple light, his pupil now a small tiny dot in the center.

"So….." Yagura sneered. "You're one of _them_ after all? I must say this is a surprise to be sure, I never thought that my own best friend was just another _freak!_ " he exclaimed, yelling at the end. Gripping his staff he twirled it around off of his back before settling into a more ready position, though still relaxed Yagura was not going to be taking any chances.

"Please…..let's not stand on ceremony here. Old. Friend." Zabuza replied not seeing any reason to waste time. It hurt like hell what he was about to do, but he hadn't gone through all of that trouble just to talk or walk away. They were both well past the point of no return.

Staring at each other they both eyed each other up as they slowly began to circle one another, their eyes combing over one another as they slowly readied their weapons. One of them was going to die tonight, and that was all there was to it. With a roar both of them dashed forward exchanging a vicious series of blows, neither of them giving an inch as they both tried to kill the other. Yagura seeing an opportunity used the smaller hook on his staff to 'grab' the hole in Zabuza's sword to gain leverage, twisting around he then attempted to gut Zabuza with the larger of the two hooks. Only for Zabuza to plant his size 13 combat boot in Yagura's side, as Yagura flipped in the air to land safely on the ground Zabuza had jumped into the air. Channeling Suiton and Raiton chakra into his blade he then swung his weapon sending a crescent shaped blade at Yagura, Yagura thinking quickly dodged by backflipping away from the attack. Just as Zabuza had wanted as he brought the full power of his sword down on Yagura when he landed, only to be barely intercepted by Yagura's staff. The sheer force of the attack sending the Mizukage onto one knee as he held off the massive sword that seemed to _want_ to cut him, thinking quickly Yagura then spat out a blast of water into Zabuza's chest sending him flying back several feet. Standing back up Yagura quickly put away his staff before he began to do a few handsigns, finishing he then called out. "Suiton: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!" Opening up his mouth an obscene amount of pressurized water shot out in the form of a Chinese dragon, after forming it then raced towards Zabuza.

Thinking quickly he channeled chakra into his sword forming a coat of it around the blade like a skin, protecting it and reinforcing it. "Kenjutsu: Break Off of Energy!" he growled as he then cut the incoming water dragon in half, causing the the water to then disperse onto the ground. Zabuza then surprised Yagura as he appeared in front of him in a burst of pure speed and decked him in the face, as Yagura tried to recover from the attack he was then hit again by a blast of Raiton powered water. The effect was almost instantaneous as not only was he sent flying to the other side of the room but he was also covered in water, and electrocuted. The foreign Raiton chakra now making his body twitch as stood back up, forming a single hand sign Yagura snarled. "Fuuton: Assassin's Rush" pointing his staff behind him a powerful burst of wind chakra sent him flying at intense speeds towards Zabuza, not finished however Yagura made one more hand sign as he neared his target. "Suiton: Water Decapitation" he muttered as he slammed his staff into Zabuza's sword, as their weapons pushed against one another Yagura then spat out a very thin stream towards face. Ducking out of the way Zabuza didn't even bother to look back at stone pillar that had been cut in half, holding Yagura's staff at bay with his left hand his right then made its way to one of the daggers on his belt. Drawing one of the blades resting on his left hip he then attempted to slash at Yagura, who wisely disengaged and jumped back avoiding them the blade by centimeters. Spinning his staff around above him he then channeled Fuuton Chakra into it to create some type of disk of Fuuton chakra, smirking Yagura then threw the entire thing at Zabuza. "Fuuton: Destructo Disk!" he called out as he then immediately began to do even more handsigns as he spat out even more water which took the form of an incredibly large water shark. "Suiton: Great Shark Missile Jutsu!" he yelled as the gigantic shark rocketed towards Zabuza who responded in kind with his own jutsu. Doing a single handsign then brought his sword up in front of him with the point down, using the flat of the blade as a type of shield he then channeled chakra into his blade and then outwards. As Yagura's Destructo Disk neared its target, it was met by a blue barrier that was originating from the Kubikiriboucho and extending out to surround Zabuza. With the disk now stalled he then forced the barrier to repel it back towards Yagura, right through the path of the incoming Great Shark Missile. Opening up its mouth it promptly chomped down on the disk absorbing the chakra surrounding the staff, before it continued on and struck down Zabuza in a great explosion of water.

Yagura could only watch as his opponent disappeared from his sight after his last attack struck home, causing waves and waves of water to crash in all directions and covering most of the floor with a couple of inches of water. When everything died down the entire place had been soaked and where there wasn't large puddles of water, there was about two inches of standing water and right there in the middle of it was an unconscious Zabuza.

Walking over to him Yagura couldn't help the smirk that came over him. "Well Zabuza you had a good run, buuuuut it looks like this time I'm going to be the winner." he said as he picked up his staff from the ground, standing over Zabuza he channeled some Fuuton chakra into his staff coating the tip in a large blade of wind. Raising it up over his head head he brought it down hard to decapitate his assassin, with a satisfying 'slick' Zabuza's head was separated at the neck. "Tch…...just another dead _freak."_

Yagura's victory was cut short as a deep voice spoke from behind him, "Raiton: Shima's Touch!". Yagura whipped around just in time to see Zabuza rise out from a puddle behind him and strike him with an open palm thrust to the chest, the sheer force of the blow sending him flying back. After landing on his back Yagura looked over to see the body lying on the ground dissolve into blood and water, something that shocked Yagura. _"So that's how…..I thought the Blood Clone Jutsu was lost forever…"_ he thought as he looked back up at his old friend.

Looking down on him Zabuza could only stare at the scene in front of him. "It wasn't easy you know, it took me months to figure that Kinjutsu out. It took me many months but luckily for me you provided me with plenty of bodies to supply the necessary amounts blood, I spent so long making sure this night would happen the way that it did." he said as he watched Yagura pick himself back up off of the ground.

Holding his chest as he leaned against his staff Yagura was weezing as he glared at Zabuza, "Wh…...what did you do to me?!" he snarled out as he started to feel pain course its way throughout his entire body. It was strange because at first the only thing he had felt was the initial force of the blow and him landing on his back, but now that he had started to move around he could feel a type of stiffness growing in his body that was quickly giving way to pain. _"That wasn't a normal attack…."_ he thought to himself.

"It's not surprising that you wouldn't know of it, it is a Raiton Jutsu after all. Do you remember when we both made that raid on a Kumo intelligence base? Some 7 years ago?" Zabuza asked as he watched Yagura now struggle to even stand.

"Yes….y-you and I had hit a gold mine with so many scrolls. Not just intel but jutsu scrolls as well, it wasn't long after that that you told me you had finally mastered Raiton to the same level as your Suiton….. That's where you got that jutsu isn't it?" he said as he felt his body slowly began to give out on him.

"Yes…...its a S Rank Raiton Jutsu that ensures death by targeting the heart. We all have our secrets right? Well here's one of mine….it took me many years to master it. What really helped was that I was constantly going on all of those ANBU and Hunter missions, did you really never wonder why someone like me was returning with almost untouched dead bodies? Did you never muse upon the fact that a _swordsmen_ with a sword that's larger than himself was bringing in dead men, that looked like they simply _dropped dead?_ " he asked stressing the importance.

Yagura collapsed as heard this his body now starting to shut down, " _He's right, now that I think about it he's been doing that for the last two and a half years! I always wondered what he had been doing but I never really gave it any serious thought, if this is what he's been doing ever since that raid…..then just what else has he learned?!"_ Yagura thought desperately as he tried to fight through the effects of the jutsu as clawed at life.

Standing over Yagura, Zabuza looked down with something akin to pity. "You'll be passing out soon into a coma….and then your heart will stop all together and you will die Yagura. But that is not going to be your fate, you will die by my blade tonight." he said as he hefted up his sword with one hand. "Good bye Yagura." And with that Zabuza brought his sword down hard.

*swish….*

* _Cling!*_

Zabuza widened his eyes as his sword was stopped by a very large Gunbai, protecting Yagura from being decapitated. Looking down he saw a long Ninjato stabbing into his chest, right into his heart, looking up he saw what appeared to be a man wearing a spiral orange mask. Time seemed to stop for a moment before Zabuza's body dissolved into water, and the real one walked out from behind a pillar. Staring at the newcomer Zabuza could see that he wore a black cloak that went down to his feet and covered his neck, he wore black gloves and shinobi sandals with white stirrups. Over the cloak was a large shinobi belt/waist guard that held a sheath for his Ninjato on his left hip and three standard shinobi pouches were seen on the back. On his right hip were two scroll carriers and his mask had only one hole on the right side revealing only his right eye, a Sharingan Eye.

"An Uchiha…..so….this is starting to explain certain things.." Zabuza growled out as he glared at the man. "So I take it since you're interceding that _you're the one responsible?"_ he asked as his KI steadily began to rise on its own, Zabuza had always had a rather short fuse his whole life. But he was always one of those people whose anger never interfered with what they were doing or their decision making, instead it simply made him _more focused_ and MUCH more dangerous. Because then whoever had angered him had his complete and undivided attention, and coming from an S Rank shinobi that was NEVER a good thing.

Staring at the man as he came out from behind the pillar he couldn't help but recognize the threat that this man presented, this was a true killer standing in front of him. Too bad for Zabuza he wasn't an ordinary shinobi, and he was going to find that out the hard way soon enough. Chuckling to himself he couldn't help but laugh as 'The Demon of the Mist' glared at him, looking him up and down the masked man had to admit that his opponent really did look like something out of a nightmare. _"Too bad for him it won't matter when all is said and done….all of that strength and power and he won't even be able to touch me…."_ he thought as he immediately rushed the larger man.

" _Oh….so he want's to play too? Alright I'm game…."_ thought Zabuza as he brought down sword and readied it for battle.

In River Country

It had been a month since Naruto and Konan had began his training in Suiton and Fuuton ninjutsu, it had also been a month since they had slowly began to get to know one another. There hadn't really been a lot of complications in that area since Naruto had spent over two years constantly being around Kakuzu and Hitome, which had lead to Naruto developing a focus and work ethic that could put some ANBU to shame. For both of them it had taken the longest for Naruto to get the hang of Fuuton since he didn't posses a heart or affinity for it at all, and while Konan was expecting Naruto to become frustrated she had instead been surprised to see the little seven year old take it as a challenge. Switching out with her own paper clones so she could watch the progress of Naruto's Shadow Clones, she was surprised to see how all of them that were working on Fuuton shared a look of pure determination as they tried over and over again to cut their leaves. It appeared Naruto just did NOT have it in him to give up, and based off of what she had been told and now was seeing for herself, she now knew for a fact that he would learn everything it was that she had to teach him. And while she had still had reservations that Naruto wouldn't be able to do it, he had once again surprised her earlier that day after lunch, when he showed her that he had mastered turning his chakra into Suiton and Fuuton. They had been in the middle of finishing up their lunches when Naruto had frozen for a few seconds, before he started to laugh and cheer to himself. Without even bothering to give her an explanation he ran over to a nearby tree and plucked two leaves off of a low hanging branch before running back to her, holding them in either hand he concentrated for a second before grinning. Opening up his hands he showed Konan a leaf in his left hand that had been split cleanly in half while in his right hand was a soaking wet leaf, an act that had caused her jaw to slightly drop.

Sighing to herself she made her way up the stairs so she could go to her room, she needed the sleep if she was going to be teaching a blonde hyperactive little kid how to do do ninjutsu. _"Hmmmm, that's something I never thought I would have to think of….I'm starting to see why Kakuzu and Hitome always appear to be worn out. How have they been able to do this for the last two years?"_ she thought to herself as she walked down the hall to her quarters. As she passed by Naruto's room she stopped as she heard a soft whimper come from his door, _"Hmmm?"._ Standing still for a moment she listened as she heard another whimper and some rustling come from the other side of his door, slowly opening it up all the way Konan looked in to see what was going on. As she looked in she could immediately spot Naruto on his bed tossing and turning, a thin sheen of sweat covering him as he slept. As she stepped into the room she noticed that the desk light by his bed was on, the next thing that he noticed was that covering almost every square inch of space on the walls were paintings and drawings of different men. The most frequent being that of Fugaku Uchiha, widening her eyes at what she was seeing she saw now what they all _really were._ They were all of the men who had tortured and raped him, he must have done all of them over the past two years in an attempt to 'face his demons'. She could tell from some of them that they were very crude paintings and as she looked around she could almost track the time by the improvement of skill in each of the paintings.

She even noticed how the best ones were in actual frames and how there were some on the ceiling itself, looking back at Naruto her gaze softened as she looked at the still tortured boy in front of her. _"I always thought it was strange how he seemed to be holding it together when we trained during the daytime…."_ she thought as she walked over him, reaching out she softly stroked his head in an attempt to calm him down. As she was doing this she felt a tug on her consciousness that was coming from the seal, before she could pull her hand away however she was forcefully brought into the seal. As her senses returned to her she began to look around at her surroundings, and what she saw was breathtaking. Wherever she looked there were seas of grass in all directions with mountains in the distance, looking up she saw countless stars and planets slowly moving in the sky despite it appearing to be 'daytime'.

" _This place….."_ she thought. _"It's so beautiful…...this must be the inside of his seal. His….Mindscape, yes Kakuzu mentioned this over a year ago."_ As she was lost in her musings she began to walk around inspecting everything she came across, she had a feeling after several minutes of walking that this place was much larger than she had originally believed it to be. Why? Because she had been walking towards an area that had a forest and a larger river and for some reason they didn't seem to be any closer. Sighing she trudged on wanting to get this over with, as she walked several minutes had turned into a half hour before she had finally reached her destination. Her suspicions were proven correct as she stared up at a forest of trees that were taller than the Amekage Tower, _"As beautiful as this place is I've wasted too much time here, I need to leave."_ As she was thinking this she began to feel a slight rumble in the ground beneath her coming from the forest, looking over she witnessed the Kyuubi walking out from within the forest. Pressing herself against one of the trees Konan watched as the towering demon slowly laid down near the river with it's tails curled around it, a sight that had Konan panicking slightly. _"What on earth?! How is it possible for the Kyuubi to be walking around so freely?"_ she thought as she continued to spy on the large demoness, all of her thoughts ground to a halt however as the Kyuubi turned its head and looked directly at her. Raising one of its clawed hands it pointed to her and silently made a 'come here' motion with it's finger. Steeling herself she walked over to where the Kyuubi was resting, her mind coming up with as many solutions as she could if things turned ugly.

As she stood face to face with the demon she could see that it seemed to be studying her, its intelligence was evident in its eyes as the Kyuubi carefully studied everything about her. Konan for herself had never felt like she was being put under a microscope before now as continued to stare down the demon, an act that seemed to briefly amuse it. Leaning back the Kyuubi opened up its mouth and let out a yawn, revealing its two rows of razor sharp teeth. Looking back towards Konan the Kyuubi finally spoke. "I suppose you have been wondering how and why you are here human, I can assure you it was no accident."

"So it was you who brought me in here….why?" she simply asked.

"I have been meaning to talk to one of you for some time now about the state of things, but unfortunately I had wait for a chance to present itself. Seeing how my options are limited I figured I would be in for a wait before I could get one of you down here, and we do have soooo much to talk about…" Kurama said as she eyed Konan.

"What do you want?" Konan asked suddenly feeling very uneasy.

Sliding one of her tails over Kurama revealed a sleeping Naruto who was currently using Kurama's tails as a bed, who was sleeping somewhat peacefully. He was still tossing and turning a little but it was not to the same degree as what she had seen in his room, looking up at the demoness Konan began to see what this was all about. _"She's concerned for Naruto…..I wonder what she knows. Regardless we'll have to be careful from now on-"_

Before she could finish her train of thoughts Kurama lashed out and slammed Konan into the ground with one of her paws, effectively pinning her down. Looming over the woman Kurama spoke, "I heard that _mortal….._ do not think that I can't hear your thoughts in here just because you are not the one I am sealed inside of. I have known from the beginning that you and your organization have had ulterior motives for helping Naruto, I know that you see him as a means to an end, and I know that you are most likely all criminals. I share senses with Naruto meaning everything that he sees, feels and experiences so too do I see and feel. I am aware of _everything_ that goes on around him at _all times_ , so I will say this only once. If _any_ of you hurt my little kit…." she threatened bringing her large maw right in front of Konan's face, her eyes now glowing a malicious red. " **I will kill you all and swallow your souls.** " she said as she backed up and removed her giant paw, allowing Konan to stand once more.

Getting up Konan had to admit that was easily the scariest moment of her life, worse than anything she had suffered at the hands of Hanzo. Taking a few moments to steady her breathing she looked back up into the glowing eyes of the Kyuubi, dusting herself off she spoke. "You must really care about him then to go through all of this trouble to bring one of us down here, I believe you when you say you'll kill us all…..I really do. Yes, we are comprised of criminals. And yes our intentions for helping Naruto originally were because he is a Hanyou and because he could become an incredibly powerful ally to us, especially when he grows up." she said in an even tone as she looked Kurama right in the eye.

Not sensing any lies Kurama nodded "I appreciate your honesty Konan, but know that I WILL be watching you. Naruto has suffered enough and I won't tolerate anyone hurting him and neither will the Jiongu." she stated as she looked over to a sleeping Naruto who was now curled up in her tails, a peaceful expression now on his face as he slept.

"I was wondering about him…" Konan stated gaining Kurama's attention. "I and the rest of the Akatsuki have been receiving regular reports on his progress over the past two years, I had always wondered on how he seemed to be doing _so well_ with his recovery. You've been helping him this entire time haven't you?" she asked as she looked over to Naruto, and then back to Kurama.

"...Yes I have. I was there when he was…..attacked….everything he felt and experienced that night,I too was able to feel to a certain extent. I poured so much of my chakra through the seal that night just trying to keep his heart from giving out from the pain….what I felt through the seal was only a small portion of what Naruto went through. And afterwards I pulled him into the seal so that way I could try to heal his mind and help him recover, it was the least I could do seeing how I was ultimately responsible for what happened to him.." she said as her gaze softened.

Konan for her part could only stare in shock as she listened to what she had been told, having not expected the demoness to reveal something like that. "And the pictures and paintings on his walls?" she asked after finding her voice.

"That was something Naruto started doing some eight months ago, he just started to draw and then he moved on to painting teaching himself his own technique. He has a photographic memory so he was able to take to it fairly quickly, all of those that you saw were the best ones that he had done. The…..finished product that he put up all over the walls and ceiling of his room, it was just something that he felt he needed to do. He faced so many of his fears that now all they serve to do is…..motivate him for lack of a better word." answered Kurama, sighing she sat back down in a more comfortable position resting on her front legs. "You're wrong though about his recovery…..he hasn't been making near as good of a recovery as you would believe. The main reason why he isn't even a vegetable right now is because of this seal, time can go by much slower in here if either us desire it. To the point where an hour in here is more like an entire day, sometimes we will spend entire months in here together while he's sleeping in his bed. He comes here every night just to spend time with me, with all the time he's spent in here he's aged mentally and matured faster than his body has. He's a ten year old trapped inside of a seven year old's body essentially, _that's_ why he's the way he is."

"I see….."

"Now I believe it's time you left, Naruto will be awake soon and I have nothing more to say to you." Kurama said as she sat up.

"Very well, goodbye Kyuubi." replied Konan as her body began to quickly fade away.

Back in Naruto's Room

Opening up her eyes Konan blinked rapidly before looking around, seeing she was back in Naruto's room she looked down at the sleeping boy in front of her. Seeing how he seemed to be sleeping just fine now she turned to leave before stopping, turning back around she pulled the blanket back over Naruto before exiting the room. As Konan headed back to her room she replayed the conversation she had with the Kyuubi in her head, that was easily one of her most uncomfortable conversations in her life. _"If that's how the Kyuubi is it makes me wonder how the other Bijuu are, it would certainly be a much different fight indeed if we were having to deal with the Bijuu themselves instead of their Jinchuuriki. I will have to inform the others about this when I get the chance, we can't afford to slip up at all. Especially if what she said is true."_

 **Aaaaaannnnnnddddd I'm done! Ok so that took alot longer than I had intended it to guys, and I'm sorry as hell for the wait but the last 3 weeks shit just kept popping up at the wrong time one right after another. This chapter was actually supposed to have been put up at least 2 weeks ago, talk about frustrating. So anyways I got the chapter and my shit taken care of so yeah go ahead and expect each chapter to come up every 10-20 days max from now on, tell me what you thought about the fight that I put in between Yagura and Zabuza(don't worry you will see what happens between him and Tobi), and feel free to share the story with others. Peace**

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	5. Chapter 5

**Akuma Sannin**

 **Hey everybody so I'm going through and writing out the next chapter, I hope yall liked the last one. I'm going ahead and using the whole thing with what's going on in Kiri for all that it's worth, you'll see ; ). Also I've really appreciated all of the reviews yall have sent me, it's really helped out with the development of the story as well as a few other things so keep them coming! Seriously the more reviews the better, cause if yall have any questions then I can go ahead and answer some of them. Now I'm not really going to be touching off on anything involving Konoha till chapter 7 with the exception being one single part in this chapter involving a certain Konoha Jounin and his two teammates. For those of you who are definitely wondering about when the whole thing with Fugaku and his serial raping ass is going to be brought to a close, well that's going to go down in chapter 7. Gotta say the guy had a damn good run getting away with all of that shit for all those years buuuuuuut I hate him so he's gonna DIE! Muahahahahahahahaha! Now I'm not gonna spoil too much about that but I will say that he's gonna be caught red handed by the Hokage and several of the other clan heads. So can you imagine all of the backlash that would have on the Uchiha Clan? At that point Fugaku will have been committing all of those rapes for just over 6 years before he was finally caught, so imagine how bad that will be for the whole Uchiha Clan. Especially given the very strained relations between them and the village, I always felt that with all of the events that lead up to the Uchiha Clan Massacre that there should have been something big to act as a real catalyst. What better catalyst than the entire world finding out that the head of the Uchiha Clan is a serial rapist, who had managed to evade capture for over 6 years and was even known to have targeted a child once as well. (Naruto) Now THAT'S what I call a proper shit storm for Konoha, as well as a proper catalyst for why the Uchiha would have felt the need to throw a coup de tat. THAT'S a proper reason for why such a smart and powerful shinobi like Itachi would 'go insane' and slaughter his whole clan, Sasuke and their mother Mikoto survive. SPOILERS. I swear if there's one thing I always hated about the original series it was all of those damn convoluted plots all throughout the entire series. Kishimoto really didn't like making things simple when it came to WHY things are happening the way that they are. Also one last thing, pay attention to what happens in the next chapter because THAT will be the chapter that will REALLY kick off the story. It's kinda something that I've been building up to for a little while and it's going to have a lot to do with Kakuzu's history, including Naruto's heritage. Now on with the story! And don't forget to review! ALSO READ THE ENDING COMMENTS!….**

The Mizukage Tower

As Zabuza calmly stared down at his opponent he took note of the shallow cuts on his body, they had been fighting for an entire 5 minutes and he had yet to land a single hit on him. It wasn't like he was going up against someone who could dodge away from anything or was an equally skilled swordsman. Hell he could easily see all of the mistakes that the man made with his form and technique, he just couldn't cut the man no matter what he did. Every time his sword or one of his bone daggers would cut or stab him, it would just pass right through the man like he was a damn illusion! Something that had almost got him killed after only the first couple of seconds, thankfully he had already planted several high level water clones all over the area to take hits for him when he fought Yagura. What made it worse was that he couldn't even block his opponent's attacks! Just as when he would try and attack only for his weapons to faze through the masked asshole, so too would the man's sword or gunbai pass through his Kubikiriboucho. As it stood Zabuza was on the defensive with the only real options being to dodge and evade as he attempted to figure out a way around his opponent's intangibility, as much as it burned him Zabuza had grudging respect for him. Not many could master a space/time jutsu, let alone get their hands on one.

As Zabuza weighed his options on what to do he was interrupted by a bright green light that filled the room, briefly looking over he saw that it was coming from Yagura. Whose mouth was wide open in a soundless scream as all three tales of demonic chakra whipped around him, as Zabuza watched this his senses went off. Whipping around and bringing up one of his daggers he was barely able to block a ninjato from decapitating him, quickly shifting his stance around he planted his boot into the masked man's chest launching him several feet back. As he watched the masked nin backflip in midair and land on his feet, Zabuza's mind was working a mile a minute.

" _What?! I managed to hit him!..."_ he thought as he quickly replayed the events in his mind. _"Apparently he's not intangible all of the time if I was able to kick him away like that, hmmmmm no jutsu is ever truly perfect. He probably has a time limit on that jutsu as well, but in the meantime how the hell do I HIT HIM?!"_ Zabuza thought to himself as he used his peripheral vision to keep an eye on Yagura's twitching body.

Meanwhile the masked man having flipped and landed on his feet was silently fuming as he looked back up at his opponent. _"Tch…..lucky….. Hmmmm judging from the looks of things Yagura doesn't have too much longer before he dies, I can't afford to let that happen. I have too much invested in him at the moment, I suppose it's about time I wrapped things up here. But first…"_

Shunshining over to Yagura he quickly gathered a small amount of chakra into his hand, placing on top of Yagura's chest he let out a brief pulse of chakra into Yagura's heart. Standing back up he turned to look at Zabuza, while he didn't like to admit it he had to acknowledge what had _almost_ happened here. Not many would ever have the guts to do what Zabuza had done, he had manipulated events from the shadows masterfully to make this night happen on his own terms. He doubted he could have done a better job himself…. _"Pity he didn't account for me"_

Witnessing what had just happened Zabuza knew that his plan for killing Yagura had failed, no jutsu is ever perfect. And for all of the benefits that Shina's Touch came with there was just one glaring weakness to it, all one had to do was apply any jutsu that could return the heartbeat to normal in order to negate the effects. And given that his opponent was an Uchiha or at least somebody who wielded a transplanted Sharingan, it wasn't much of a stretch that he could figure out what was going on.

Glaring at his opponent Zabuza spoke. "Before I bisect you….." he growled. "What's your name? Or at least what should I call you?"

Cocking his head to the side the man replied. "While I could comment on how silly it is to ask a masked man who he is, this time I won't. You've earned this much for all of your efforts, you can call me Tobi."

"Tobi huh? You're pretty strong for an Uchiha, most just rely on their damn eyes like they're the keys to the universe. Those fools have all wound up on at the edge of my blade, but you….." he said as he quickly sized up his opponent. "You're a _real_ shinobi, unlike those fools from your clan you're one of true skill. Normally I'd say that none of this was personal...but then I'd be lying…" he said as he unleashed his full KI on the now named Tobi.

"Oh my….now that's impressive." Tobi said as he charged back at Zabuza once again with his Ninjato in hand, his Gunbai safely secured to his back.

Snarling Zabuza began a delicate dance of dodging and weaving out of range of Tobi's attacks, all the while attempting to slowly figure out how to get around his opponent's defense. He knew there was a way around Tobi's jutsu because he should have been dead a few moments ago, as he once again tried to cut Tobi's head off there was a massive explosion of energy that sent them both sprawling several feet away and onto the ground. As Tobi and Zabuza stood back up and shook their heads in an attempt to clear them, they looked over to see that Yagura was once again awake. Looking into his eyes both could tell that the Jinchuuriki was no longer coherent and was in a blind rage, as the demonic chakra began to build up more and more Yagura quickly began to grow and change. Right before their eyes at an astonishing rate Yagura turned into the Sanbi, a process that destroyed the entire eastern portion of the building. Rearing up to its full height the Sanbi then let out a massive roar that shook the entire village to its core, whipping around it then tore through the village and village walls. Leaving a trail of destruction in its wake it as it began to head North, and into the countryside.

"Hehehehe….well that is unfortunate. Luckily he'll be easy to get under control again once I've dealt with you." commented Tobi seemingly without a care in the world.

Turning back to look at his enemy Zabuza snarled "You think this is funny?!"

"Obviously I do, though it is also aggravating. You've caused me no end of trouble Zabuza, after all the trouble I went through these past few years. With having to control Yagura and force him to start the purges, as well as manipulate certain events involving the Kaguya and Yuki Clans." Tobi said nonchalantly as he picked some dried blood off of his sword. "Hehehe let's just say that almost everything that has happened to this pathetic little village carries my signature…."

"The Yuki….and Kaguya Clans…...IT WAS YOU?!" Zabuza roared as charged forward and and brought his sword down in a horizontal chop, only to pass harmlessly through Tobi who merely stood still. Turning around Zabuza glared at him with all new found levels of hatred as he wanted nothing more than to kill this man. "WHY!? All of those people…...men, women, and _children!_ You've destroyed them all and for WHAT?!" he screamed his voice getting slightly coarse near the end.

"Because I wanted to….because I have a dream to bring this world into peace….and because not only did I require the resources that this village had. But because for my plans to succeed I couldn't very well let a shinobi village with this many Kekkai Genkai users be around to oppose me and get in my way. Still….it was almost all for naught though as for all of my planning and maneuvering I still wasn't able to account for all of the damage you had done tonight. If I hadn't placed a seal within Yagura's body to alert me when he was about to die, I wouldn't have known to come when I did. Judging by the way that we haven't been bothered by anyone else yet, that means you obviously killed everyone that was in the Kage Tower. Just how many people did you kill tonight Zabuza? How many lives did YOU destroy for this one night?" he asked now looking directly at the swordsmen.

"Unlike you I don't need to destroy innocent lives to get what I want, every single person I killed tonight, including those throughout the months leading up to this night…..were all guilty for the things they did over the last few years. I spent the last year quietly making sure that I would have all of Yagura's most powerful and loyal supporters here tonight, both shinobi AND civilian alike." Zabuza replied coldly as he and Tobi slowly began to circle one another.

"Oh? So you killed your own people for following the orders of their _Kage?_ That's really something…" Tobi snarked.

"No…..I'm not referring to those ones. I'm talking about all of the bastards who raped women on their wedding nights, threw screaming babies into fires, and slaughtered entire _families._ I'm talking about the ones who used the Bloodline Purges to advance their own agendas, even if it meant turning children into orphans or corpses to get it done. I'm talking about everyone who who went out of their way to be cruel to people who had never done anything wrong in their lives!" he said screaming at the end. "You talk about bringing peace to this world?! **WELL THEN WHERE IS IT?!** All you've done is create more death and misery for an entire nation you ba-" before Zabuza could continue however he was cut short as a ninjato had pierced his back, going through his heart and sticking out of his chest.

As blood dripped down from the handle onto Tobi's hand he spoke "You're right of course Zabuza, those scum _do_ deserve to die for the evils that they committed. And I'm sure in no small way that they are all paying in hell for it as we speak, however, my dream requires me to do what I'm doing for the greater good. I'm trying to create a world where no one will ever have to die, where everyone can be with their loved ones and not have to watch them die before their eyes. It kills me to do things that I must do because I have had to watch my loved ones die as well, I'm trying to create a world where no one will ever have to suffer my pain. But as the saying goes, in order to make an omelet you need to break a few eggs. Goodbye Zabuza." Tobi spoke as twisted his ninjato, destroying the heart in the process.

As Tobi began to withdraw his blade Zabuza's body suddenly began to glow, before tobi could react Zabuza's body exploded with the force of several exploding tags. The force of the blast launching Tobi across the room into one of the many stone pillars, and destroying over half of the remaining walls. Coughing up a large amount of blood Tobi slowly stood back up, his clothes barely hanging onto his now badly burnt body. His right arm which had been holding the ninjato was now gone as well as his mask, looking around all he could see was the bloody crater of what used to be Zabuza's body. Limping over to the crater Tobi could not help but admire the man for his foresight, not many people think so far ahead for what would happen if they were to lose. _"He truly put all he had into this night, he came here prepared to die if meant killing Yagura…."_ Tobi thought as he stood there assessing the damage.

"Close but not close enough." Tobi said as he looked down at the crater.

"Oh yeah?" came a cold reply.

Whipping around from the crater Tobi brought his gunbai down in a horizontal arc, only to hit nothing. His confusion was answered a moment later when Zabuza shot out from the ground in the crater and slashed upwards, his sword going up along his entire spine and opening up his back. As Tobi landed face first on the ground he couldn't move from the unimaginable pain he was in, hearing footsteps he watched as Zabuza walked around and stood in front of him.

His own mask and shirt were gone as well as most of his sword, the once seven foot behemoth of a blade now only came up to about 2.5 feet. Ending in a very jagged and wicked edge, as blood dripped down from the new point of the sword Tobi glared up at his enemy.

"Let me guess, you're wondering how this happened aren't you?" Zabuza asked a few seconds later.

"You should be dead! I saw with my own Sharingan that that body had a chakra system with actual chakra inside of it! That was no Blood Clone or Shadow Clone!" Tobi snarled the pain evident in his voice.

"Do you know of Shina the Storm Goddess?" Zabuza asked.

"What sort of question is that? Of course I've heard of her! She was the one who fought on par with the Nindaime Hokage, where they ended up killing each other near the beginning of the Second Shinobi War." Tobi answered as he tried to move, only to fail miserably.

"What many never knew was that she was also a powerful medic, not to the same degree as Tsunade Senju, but a close second easily. She created many ninjutsu, not just elemental ones neither. But Medical jutsus that can allow one to do so many things with corpses, and the human body. Such as a powerful S Rank Kinjutsu that she created shortly before her death, she didn't even have a chance to name it before her final battle with Tobirama Senju. It places a powerful stasis seal on someone that you're killing, suspending them in a state of death before their chakra even has a chance to leave their bodies. It requires a special stasis storage seal to be put somewhere on your body for it to work, so that you can keep the corpses properly sealed away and close by. Then when your life's in danger the jutsu will take effect by combining the Substitution Jutsu with the Dead Soul Jutsu, as well as detonating the body in a manner similar to any old explosive suicide jutsu. And no matter what damage your body receives it will simply be transferred to whatever body you substitute with from the seal, but that's not even the best part." Zabuza said as he squatted down to look Tobi in the face.

"The best part is that I was able to improve it over the years, that light that that body gave off before it exploded was my doing. It temporarily scrambles the chakra network of whoever is close enough for a few seconds, preventing them from using some chakra based means of escaping from the blast." Zabuza said.

"Tch…..the perfect counter…..you were smart to use it when you did…" Tobi gritted out as he tried speak.

"It took me the whole fight to figure it out but there were clues, the fact that you even brought those weapons in the first place was one of them. Another was when I was finally able to block one of your attacks, the more I thought about it the more I knew that I couldn't let the fight drag on. Your jutsu would obviously have some sort of time limit on it, but its not like I could afford to just wait and see now could I?"

"Be that as it may….." Tobi said with a groan. "We both know this isn't over."

"I know…...you've already activated that damn intangibility jutsu of yours. I'll be waiting for you 'Tobi', if that even is your real name, next time we meet i'll do a hell of a lot more than just cleave your spine open." he said as he watched Tobi disappear in a swirling vortex eventually leaving him alone in what was left of the building.

Standing up to his full height, Zabuza walked into the crater and held his sword against the small pool of blood that gathered in the crater. As he watched his sword 'drink' the blood and repair itself he began to plan his next move, first he would have to deal with Yagura…. _again._ And make sure that he didn't hurt anyone else in his enraged state, at the very least he should try and drive him out into the seas where he can cool off. _"Hmmm I doubt he'll have shaken off the effects of whatever that bastard did to him, I'll have to be careful. Afterwards I'll have to have a chat with old man Terumi, and tell him it's time."_ Having made up his mind on what he needed to do Zabuza stood back up, his blade now a little over four feet long but not yet complete. Taking a quick glance in the direction he last saw the Sanbi take off in Zabuza shunshinned away, not noticing a snake that had been watching everything from the shadows.

In River Country

As Naruto limped out of the shower he could not help the sigh of relief that came out, the hot water having felt great after a long day of training with Konan-sensei. As he slowly stretched out his arms he winced and quickly brought them back down to his right side, where a large bruise was easily showing. Ever since their first spar Konan had been drilling him into the ground in his Taijutsu in order to get him to master the third and fourth stages of his style, which meant that Konan-sensei didn't let up on Naruto _at all._ While she may appear calm and collected she was easily as much a slave driver as Kakuzu and Hitome when it came to his training, something that showed right now on his ribs from when she kicked him into a tree….that was on the other side of the training grounds! Walking over to the mirror and wiping the fog off of it Naruto started to inspect his body, since he had started training two years ago he had no traces of baby fat on his body anywhere. Covering his body where the scars from _that night_ , but also many new and old bruises from training as well, he even had a few scars from Hitome's kenjutsu training as well. As he looked his body over and at the stitches covering most of his body, he couldn't help but wonder when Kakuzu was finally going to show him more about what the Jiongu was actually capable of doing. He got why he would have to wait till he was older because he still had a lot to learn before he was ready, but that still did nothing to ease his impatience.

As Naruto continued to look over his body he felt a sudden wave of dizziness pass over him, after stumbling for a minute he then began to feel a headache coming on. Grabbing his head he started to massage his temples in an effort to make the headache go away, as he did this it only began to get worse.

"Gah, what's with this headache?" he asked himself as much to his dismay, the pain in his head started to get worse and worse. The pain that Naruto had felt just a few minutes ago had been an irritation at most, but now for some reason he was now truly in pain. Grabbing his head with both hands Naruto began to focus on his breathing as the pain continued to build up, something that led to him being hunched over as he rubbed his temples.

" _What the fuck is going on?! It feels like my head is being split open!"_ he thought to himself as he was now doing everything he could think of to get the pain to go away.

" _Kurama-chan!"_ he thought as tried to talk to his demoness.

" _Hmmmm? Yes?"_ came the reply a few seconds later.

" _Can you tell me whats going on with me?! My head feels like it's about to explode!"_

" _What do you….."_ stopping in mid-sentence Kurama then began to take a much closer look at her host, as she did she could see for some reason Naruto was in an obscene amount of pain.

" _Alright Naruto-kun, I'm taking a look right now just try to bear it as I try to figure out what the problem is."_ she told him as she quickly got to work.

" _Su-s-sure…..no problem.."_

As Kurama began to look through Naruto's body she noticed the Jiongu appeared to be in a state of frenzy and panic also, which was something that immediately had her concerned. As if there was something that could cause her 'roommate' to become this erratic and bothered, then there was definitely something wrong. Stretching out her consciousness like last time she tried to commune with the Jiongu in an attempt to find out what was wrong, seeing how it was joined with almost every facet of Naruto's very being. The Jiongu practically grabbed onto the Kyuubi and immediately started to project images and feelings into her mind, in an attempt to show her what was wrong. As it all came together she began to see what was happening with their host, Naruto was simply evolving into a more fully fledged Hanyou.

As Kurama began to figure out what was going on with Naruto she also came to the realization that what was coming was going to be excruciatingly painful for him.

" _Naruto-kun! I know what's going on now!"_

" _Really?! What is it then?!"_ Naruto asked as the pain had now spread from not just his head, but was now coursing throughout his entire body.

" _Something that I never expected to happen to you, don't worry it's nothing bad it's just your body is going through some changes that-"_

" _SOME CHANGES?! My head feels like it's about to explode!"_ came Naruto's pained reply, cutting her off. As he held his head in his hands, it was all he could do to keep from screaming as the pain _still_ continued to build. _"Oh…..Kami…."_ he thought before he felt a pain unlike any other rip through his body and especially through his head, the scream that ripped its way out of his throat could be heard for miles.

With Konan

It was late as Konan came from her room, her meeting with the other members of the Akatsuki had been…..irritating to say the least. After informing the others of the conversation that she had with the Kyuubi they then spent two hours going back and forth over what to do, thankfully Orochimaru had had the brilliant idea to simply suggest that they proceed with their original plan only with more caution. That instead of trying to hide certain things they should instead be upfront about who and what they are, so as to deceive the Kyuubi with open truths.

Now Konan could honestly admit that she had absolutely no trust for that man, and most of the time hated having to even be in the same room as him. But still she would always have to admit that despite his _many_ faults he truly was a brilliant man, he was easily smarter than any of the other members of the Akatsuki. She and Nagato had little doubt that given enough time and patience Orochimaru could kill anyone, and Orochimaru was easily one of the most patient men either of them had ever seen. After they had gone over some of the finer details of what Orochimaru was proposing they adjourned for the evening having covered everything, as Konan walked down one of the halls of the River Country Base she couldn't help but think over how her 'pupil' was progressing. He had taken to Suiton Ninjutsu just fine, and with the help of Shadow Clones was coming along splendidly. Konan knew if she kept him going at the pace he was on then his skill in Suiton would be at the same level as his Katon or Doton, she just had to keep pushing him. Truthfully Naruto reminded her of a very young Nagato seeing how he seemed to take to Ninjutsu like a fish to water, and his progress with his Taijutsu and Kenjutsu was just as impressive.

Clad in only a silk bathrobe and sandals Konan walked through into the kitchen, going over to the cupboard she opened it up to see row upon row of saki bottles. Smiling to herself she picked one of her favorite brands before closing it and heading back to her room. As she made her way to to her room she was cut from her musings by a blood curdling scream, quickly snapping to attention she ran. Knowing that that scream could only come from Naruto she sped through the halls towards the direction she heard Naruto's screaming, upon arriving at the bathroom Konan tore through the door only to be caught off guard by what she was witnessing.

Clutching his head and rolling around on the ground Naruto was screaming at the top of his lungs, as he kicked and thrashed around. That was not what made her stop, what made her freeze was the amount of blood that seemed to be coming from his head. Acting quickly Konan grabbed a towel, kneeling down she wrapped Naruto in her arms as best she could. Given his constant thrashing it was somewhat difficult to get a hold of him, pressing as much of the towel to his head Konan then began trying to peel away Naruto's hands.

" _What the hell?!"_ was the only thought that went through Konan's mind, as there resting on Naruto's forehead was a pair of horns that came up into sharp points.

The horns appeared to have grown directly out of the poor boy's skull and had come up through his skin, as if literally splitting his head open. They were an angry red in color that ended in black tips, and looked to be about three inches in length. The skin around them was raw and severely irritated, though the bleeding had thankfully ceased. As she tried to dab as gently at the now whimpering boy's head, she was surprised when he suddenly turned into her body. Not expecting the sudden move Konan could only hold onto Naruto as he sought comfort in her arms, an act that was only made more surprising when she felt something soft and bushy wrap around the small of her back. Reaching around with her free hand she discovered it was his tail that had wrapped around her, _"Soft"_ she thought to herself.

Looking back at Naruto she saw how he had seemingly snuggled into her bosom without her noticing, and seemed to slowly be recovering as a more peaceful look started to make its way across his face. The skin around his new horns was already starting to heal, and most of the color had returned to his cheeks.

" _Even after all of that, he's still just a little boy…"_ she thought to herself as she slowly cleaned off the blood with her towel, spitting water on it to keep it damp as needed. As the blood was cleaned away Konan began to notice how adorable Naruto actually was, with his little whisker marks and fox ears he was a little cutie. And as she thought about the addition of the horns, they just made him look like a cute baby devil. Stroking one of Naruto's' whiskers, she was surprised when he started to purr into her chest, as his tail started to wrap around her even tighter. Picking him up in her arms Konan stood up and started walking, after reaching her room she entered and gently laid Naruto down on the bed. Climbing in on the other side she pulled the covers over them, what she wasn't expecting was for Naruto to latch onto her in his sleep. After trying in vain to get him off Konan was forced to give up, getting herself comfortable she wrapped her arms around Naruto.

As she closed her eyes she wondered why she was even bothering to do this for him, it wasn't like she cared for him. And she certainly wasn't growing attached to him, so what was it?

" _Hmmmmm, i suppose it's because he reminds me so much of myself and Nagato when we were little, before we met Yahiko all we wanted was a mommy to hold us….."_ she thought.

Opening her eyes she looked down at the sleeping Hanyou, _"He's suffered more than me, Nagato and Yahiko ever did and he's still so young."_ Konan thought as she silently marveled at how he was even alive, let alone as well off as he is now.

" _I'll have to take him to see Nagato in a few years, maybe then they could heal each other."_ she thought as she slowly drifted to sleep.

Somewhere in the heart of the Land of Mists

As the night progressed the lands and forests were illuminated by a full moon, giving the mist filled islands a very eerie almost supernatural look. Standing on a branch a man was quietly surveying the forest around him, he and his team had been given a mission. It was an easy one in its simplicity, but that didn't mean they shouldn't be cautious, after all they were enemy territory. Thinking back to his debrief he couldn't help but grimace in remembrance, it had easily been one of the most uncomfortable talks of his life. It had been a few weeks after he and his old man had gotten into it, he had just received an invitation to join the Fire Daimyo's elite bodyguards. Known as The Twelve Guardian Ninja, a group that was solely comprised of some of the best operatives in all of Fire Country. To even be considered for the position was considered an honor let alone to be outright offered a spot in their organization, when he had told his father that he intended to join them he was shocked by his response.

Hoping and expecting his father to congratulate him on such an opportunity, he had instead flew into a rage over it. Saying how he shouldn't be abandoning his village or his family, and should stay in the village as a Jounin or an ANBU at least. And that the fact that he had even considered leaving the village simply showed how ungrateful he was…..the ensuing argument that followed ended in blows where they had both nearly killed each other. They had easily destroyed the Hokage office which had caused their fight to spill out onto the streets, by the end of it all, they had managed to terrorize the entire village as well as level a portion of the village wall. Afterwards they stayed as far away from one another as much as they could, outside of reporting in for missions they had not even looked at one another. Both having said things to one another that neither were willing to forgive, that fact that they had both actually tried to kill one another still fresh in their minds. They had always been at odds and had butted heads on more than one occasion, but things had never been this bad before.

Shaking his head he jumped back down to the ground to rejoin his team, not wanting to dwell on it any further. Walking into the firelight his features slowly became visible to those who were gathered, he was a fairly large man in his own right standing at 6' 3". He had a beard and goatee along with black medium length hair that fell down past his ears, his Konoha headband strapped to his forehead which kept his bangs out of his eyes. He wore a standard black shinobi long sleeved shirt with black ANBU cargo pants and boots, he had bandages on his arms and legs as well as three shinobi pouches on the back of his belt. Over his shirt he wore a black jacket with a fur collar that had many pockets, and finally on his the hips of his belt were horizontal sheathes that held each of his Trench Knives. As he walked over to his team he noticed how they were apparently waiting for him, he could easily tell that they were concerned by the looks on their faces.

"Asuma-kun are you alright?" asked one of his female teammates. The kunoichi in question was one his friends from when they were still in the academy, and had over the years come to easily depend on each other when on missions. She wore a very form fitting pair of dark red shinobi pants, with multiple kunai and shuriken holsters strapped to each leg and black shinobi sandals. She had her Chunin flak jacket on which had many extra carrier pouches sewn on, underneath she wore a simple black shirt with wide sleeves that came ¾ of the way down. She had very dark red eyes that immediately caught anyone's attention, and had messy black hair that came down past her shoulders. All in all she was a very beautiful young woman who would only get hotter as the years progress, though he kept such thoughts to himself. He knew all too well her stance on perverts or those who offended her, which had led to many men already being sent to the hospital neutered.

Shaking his head to clear it of such thoughts he answered. "Hai, just needed a moment to clear my head and figured I'd get the lay of the land before we continued."

"Oh come on Asuma-kun when are you going to lighten up? I know you and the Hokage are fighting right now but it'll be fine." said the other kunoichi as she folded her arms behind her head and stretched, puffing her already well developed chest out.

Looking over to his other teammate he sighed as he tried not to stare, she was wearing a low V neck sleeveless black shirt that appeared to be there to draw your attention to her breasts. Her shirt was tucked into a pair of black ANBU pants that were taped at the ankles, just above her sandals. Wearing a pair of black ANBU shin guards that came up to her knee, she sported several pouches on her belt and legs which held either scrolls or kunai. She also wore a pair of heavily modified bracers on each arm, that offered her heavy protection from most weapons, even some zanbatous. The covered her knuckles and the backs of her hands, as well as the tops of her forearms but that was not what made them unique. Along the undersides of her bracers were hidden hook blades that could extend out from underneath her hands an impressive 10 inches, the blades themselves were mechanical and allowed for the hook to be forced down so that the blades could stab unhindered before retracting back. The hooks being a recent addition could be used to hook an opponent's limbs or neck during combat, or be used to assist in climbing due to their sharp and sturdy construction. And while that would catch the attention of anyone she was fighting, what she and only a few others knew was that the top armor pieces of her bracers were hollow. Having an impressive mix of fuinjutsu, poison and mechanical pieces allowed her to fire off highly poisoned senbon from the hidden compartment within two at a time. The fuinjutsu coming into play by storing hundreds of pre-poisoned senbon in a storage seal, which would then 'reload' the device after each time it was fired. Anko was many things, but none could deny she was a devious little savant when it came to murder, which was why she had been chosen by Orochimaru to be his apprentice in the first place.

"*Sigh* Thanks Anko but I'll be fine as long as I don't think about it. Now what's the situation with the capitol?" he asked trying to steer the conversation back towards the mission.

"Ohhhh fine, from what my snakes have told me everything across the islands has been pretty crazy. Apparently most of those rumors and stories we'd been hearing about were almost all true." Anko answered with a rather deep frown, not taking any liking in the reports she had been receiving. "I'm still waiting on the last of my snakes to report in from Kiri itself, it shouldn't be long now before Slithery-kun gets back."

"How bad is it looking?" Kurenai asked as she looked back towards her lifelong friend.

"It's been an absolute massacre all over the Land of Water, every island, every city, all over the place. This country has been known for having the most Bloodline Clans in the world but if what my spies have told me is true, then _at least half_ of them have been wiped out in some mass genocide. And I still don't have the entire story yet, but I can tell you that this isn't something that happens overnight. This has to have been building up for the last few years before it reached the tipping point, and hear I thought the Mizukage was supposed to be as peace loving as the Sandaime."

"WH-...WHAT?!" came the combined reactions of Kurenai and Asuma.

"Hey keep it down! We don't want to broadcast our location now do you?" Anko responded gaining sheepish looks from her friends.

"It's just…..I find it so damn hard to believe that a literal genocide has been going on this whole time, hell we only just started hearing rumors about all of this a few months ago." replied Kurenai.

"I thought it was crazy at first after my first couple of snakes said that too, but at this point it's been confirmed. Even the Yuki and Kaguya Clans have been destroyed, as well as most of the Hozuki Clan." responded Anko.

"Hmmmm I think I know why we've only just now started to hear about all of this…" said Asuma as he stood next to the fire in a contemplative stance.

"Well then spill it Asuma, don't keep us waiting."

"I think the reason why is because on top of everything your snakes have told you, I think the Mizukage has had his best men doing everything they could to keep it quiet. Making sure no one leaves, as well as making sure no one talks so as to keep outsiders from interfering. You were right about this building up for a while Anko…." Asuma said as he looked over to her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean this had to have started out small, a law here, a ruling there, certain 'procedures' and 'regulations' put into place gradually. With the right political maneuvering and pressure the Mizukage probably got everything set up with all of the people he wanted in power, before he started to strip away the rights of Bloodline Clans. Making it to where no one is able to leave, throw in the right propaganda and you could have everyone else discriminating against them." he said as he started to get looks of realization from his two teammates.

"That bastard was setting all of this up from the beginning! He's probably just as twisted and fucked up as that Snake Bastard!" snarled Anko as she started to connect the dots to some of the more bizarre things she had heard from her snakes.

"But….how could he get away with any of this? Wouldn't the Daimyou have done something about this?" asked Kurenai as the news about what was going on started to settle in her mind.

"Yeah, because all rich and powerful men are honorable. Like I said with the right political maneuvering and pressure, the Mizukage was able to set all of this up. He just had to fly under the radar till he was ready to begin enacting his plans, and by that time he almost definitely had everyone that he wanted in positions of power to go through with it unhindered." answered Asuma with a grave look on his young face.

*Poof*

Looking over the three leaf shinobi saw a 5 foot long black snake slither it's way closer to the fire, it's scales were a very beautiful and almost glossy black. It's eyes were a very striking blue which was offset by a small white 'diamond' on it's forehead, coiling itself up into a comfortable position next to the fire it looked up to it's mistress before speaking.

" **Anko-chan I just came back from Kiri itself and it is full scale pandamonium over there…."**

"What are you talking about Slithery-kun?" she asked curiously.

" **There has been a coup that went down tonight, the man behind it was the Mizukage's right hand man Zabuza Momochi."** the snake answered.

Silence was all that could be heard as the three shinobi were shocked to hear the news, if things were this bad then it could easily destabilize all of Water Country.

"Wait a minute…...start from the beginning and tell us what happened." said Asuma as his brain rebooted before the others.

" **I was tasked as you know to infiltrate Kiri and find out what I could about the village and what had been going on in the country, after an hour of wandering around I found a Jounin bar. After finding a nice quiet hiding place I spent another three hours to them all brag and talk about all the twisted things that had happened or that they had done recently, all of which matched all of the disturbing rumors that we had all heard about. Afterwards I decided that the best way to get to the bottom of it would be to go straight to the source, so I hightailed it to the Mizukage Tower to find out whatever I could. That's where things got crazy though….."**

"What do you mean Slithery-kun? Kurenai asked as she knelt down by the snake, slowly petting and stroking the back and top of his head. An action he found agreeable as he slightly rolled his eyes back with each stroke, the tip of his tail twitching every now and then.

" **Mmmmmm what I mean is that….I arrived just in time to watch Zabuza Momochi go to work with killing everybody."** the snake answered nonchalantly as he leaned his head into Kurenai's hand, his answer however further shocking the trio.

" **I kept mostly to the shadows and watched as he cleared out all of the patrolling ANBU that were on the grounds, as well as everyone else who was inside of the building. Now that I think about it he didn't make a single sound as he was killing them, there wasn't even a drop of blood on the ground. And trust me I checked, but I digress, as I followed him around I noticed how he had started from the bottom and was working his way up the tower. Along the way I came across many different archives and scrolls detailing the villages new laws, as well as the orders for those with bloodlines to be eradicated."** The snake then regurgitated a rather large scroll that was about three feet in length and was as thick as one of Asuma's thighs, opening it up gingerly it then tapped its tail against a sealing matrix causing a scroll and some files to poof into existence.

" **Before I continue with my story I suggest that you all skim through those, as they will confirm what everything that my brothers and sisters have undoubtedly already reported."** he said getting nods from those gathered.

The three of them couldn't have been more appalled by what they were reading, as they flipped through the files and scrolls they saw not only a pattern of reducing those with bloodlines to second and third class citizens. But also a systematic and blatant eradication of all of possessed Kekkai Genkais, even those who were closely related to bloodline wielders were purged.

"G-Guys? I'm not the only one seeing this shit right?" came Anko's reply.

"N-No Anko-chan, you're not." answered Kurenai as she put a hand on her friend's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, she had seen the bits about Orochimaru and his 'offers' to 'help' the Mizukage by taking any with bloodlines captured off of their hands.

"Dear Kami….if there was ever a time where I doubted your abilities then that time is long gone. This is more than I ever dreamed we would get, with this sort of intel we could cripple Kiri. Can any of you imagine the shit storm this will mean for the Mizukage and the Water Daimyou when we get this back to Konoha?" Asuma asked getting grim nods from all of those present. Looking down at the snake in front of him he spoke "You did damn good Slithery-kun….DAMN GOOD." he beamed only to dodge a kunai that had somehow shot out of the tip of the snake's tail.

" **My name is Hades human, only the himes get to call me Slithery-kun!"** Spoke a rather irate Hades, who had by now began to slither his way up Anko's body before comfortably wrapping himself around her shoulders and neck.

" **Now back to my story, while I was going through the building snatching whatever documents I could find I had decided to keep an eye on Zabuza. One of the things I noticed was that asides from the usual people you would see within the building, there were also many powerful people there as well. From very wealthy merchants and councilmen to ANBU and Jounin Commanders, if I had to guess I would say that they were all Yagura's supporters. Or at least most of them anyways, I think Zabuza might have even gone through great lengths to make sure they were all there that night."** Hades said as he shifted into a more comfortable position on Anko. **"When he finally got to Yagura it all went down on the top floor, which just so happened to be the personal training area for the Mizukage."** Hades then went on to explain as best he could what he saw and heard, the fight between Zabuza and Yagura in its entirety, as well the fact that Zabuza apparently had a Kekkai Genkai that allowed him to see in Infrared or in absolute darkness. As the trio of shinobi listened to the snake's report they were once again shocked with not only the level of the fight itself but also its outcome. And the timely intervention of a third party that had arrived just in time to stop Zabuza from beheading the Mizukage, Hades then went on to describe the duel with between the masked man known as Tobi and Zabuza. How apparently not only was this Tobi the one who had been controlling Yagura and was incredibly powerful, but he also possessed an ability that made him completely intangible. The greatest shock of all being that this man also possessed the Sharingan, meaning he had either obtained one at some point or more than likely was of the Uchiha Clan.

After finishing his report on what had happened Hades waited to see what their reactions would be, the snake was not disappointed when he saw three dumbfounded faces staring back at him. Chuckling he brought the tip of his tail around under Anko's chin, lifting it up in order to close her mouth. The act seemingly snapping her out of her reverie as she stared back at the snake.

" **Look guys I know this is a hard pill to swallow and all, but that's what happened. But I'm afraid we have more pressing matters at hand right now, from what I could see now that Yagura has transformed into his Bijuu he is going on a full rampage. Last I saw he was heading this way and has been destroying everything in his wake, also I would like to inform you that there is a hidden compound not too far away from here that is full of what I believe to be refugees."** the snake spoke, his voice now taking on one of urgence.

"Wait what?!" Anko asked as she looked over at the snake.

" **You heard me."**

"I know but how much time do you think we have to get out of here? Because I don't feel like tangling with a fucking Bijuu tonight!"

" **Calm down we have plenty of time to get out of here, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered to tell you all of this. I would have simple had you get the hell back to the extraction site before filling you in on what happened."** responded Hades.

"Wait Slither-kun, you said there was a compound of refugees nearby? As in people with Kekkai Genkai's?" Kurenai asked, her brow furrowed in concern.

" **Hai, while some of them appeared to be regular people they were mostly survivors from the purges."** Hades answered.

"And what of the Mizukage? You said he'd transformed into the Sanbi and was in a blind rage, do you think there's a chance they'd cross paths?" Kurenai asked as her concern began to grow.

Hades hesitated for a moment as he thought it over for a moment, looking back up he answered. **"Hai, I'm sure of it. And I think I know what you're getting at too Nai-chan, but there's not a lot that we can do for them."** he responded sadly.

"Oh come on! There has to be something that we could do for them!" came Anko's reply to the situation.

"Enough!" Asuma shouted gaining their attention. "I know it sucks but the fact of the matter is that there's nothing we can do about, we can't hope to defeat a Bijuu as we are and I doubt anyone at that compound is either."

"Asuma?! You better not be saying what I think you're saying!" Kurenai yelled her expression one of shock and rage.

"I wasn't finished speaking Kurenai, now I know this is going way out of our way when we don't have to. Especially considering what our mission is but that doesn't mean we can't still do the right thing here, Hades if the people there were warned ahead of time would it make a difference in evacuating the place?" Asuma asked rounding on the snake.

" **Hmmmmm, I think it just might help. Why?"**

"Because all we need to do is gather those who are capable of fighting to help us lead the Sanbi _away_ from all of the others. Especially if we were to all be as much of a pain in the ass for that thing as possible." Asuma answered smirking at the end.

"That just might work," Anko said as she picked up the documents and gave them to Hades to swallow. "We still need to get over there first, so let's quit lollygagging and get moving." she said with a grin as she doused the fire with a low powered Suiton jutsu.

"My thoughts exactly." Kurenai said as she smiled at her two friends.

With that they disappeared via shunshin in the direction that Hades provided, knowing that they were in for a wild night.

A few miles off of the coast

As the group landed they were at the very edge of a tree line, and looking down from their position they could make out the hidden compound that Hades had mentioned earlier. Not wasting time they rushed forwards wanting to make as much use of the precious little time that they had, as they all neared the front entrance they were forced to come to an abrupt halt. Not a moment later they found themselves surrounded by dozens of shinobi, if their weapons and armor were anything to go by.

As they looked around at the people that had encircled them they say what appeared to be their leader walking up to them, the women in question was roughly Asuma's and Kurenai's age. She had long auburn hair that framed her face in bangs and came down to the middle of her ass, she a blue battle kimono over a blue skirt that came down to mid thigh. Under the skirt she wore skin tight mesh mail and leggings along with a pair of high heeled shinobi sandals, over which she wore a pair of shin guards that came up to her knees. Around her waist was a simple belt that held a large shinobi pouch at the small of her back as well as several kunai carriers, all in all she was a very beautiful and dangerous looking woman.

"And what do we have here? A couple of Konoha shinobi all lost and alone here in Water Country, oh what are the odds?" she asked with a small smirk as she sized them all up and down, her eyes lingering on Asuma for a moment.

Walking forward a few steps Kurenai spoke up. "Look I know how this is going to sound before I say but we aren't here to fight you people, we're actually here to help you." she said gaining the laughter of all bloodline shinobi present.

"Ahahaha! Oh that's a good one! Like any of us would believe a bunch of trespassing shinobi, much less foreigners from another village." their leader said having covered her mouth while she was laughing.

"Hey bitch it's the truth! Do you morons really think that we would even bother running straight at your front door if we actually meant you harm?!" shouted Anko who was easily losing her patience.

Her words seemed to knock the laughter out of everyone including their leader, who immediately glared daggers at Anko. "Watch your mouth…" she growled. Which merely prompted Anko to pull her lower right eyelid down, sticking out her tongue she made a 'nyaaaah' sound while flipping the auburn haired woman off.

" **Enough!"**

Before anyone could respond the area was flooded with an intense blast of KI that had everyone present struggling to remain standing, looking over they all say that the source of the KI was Asuma. As quickly as it came the KI vanished leaving in its place a seriously pissed off shinobi, without a word Asuma began to stalk towards the group's apparent leader. Coming up till he was only a few steps away from her he glared down at her, an act that caused everyone to tense.

"I don't have time for this shit, nor do I have the patience or inclination to entertain it. What we were doing here in Water Country is of no concern to you, but what he have to say to you does. We came here to warn you that Zabuza Momochi has attempted to assassinate the Mizukage Yagura, and while he was able to beat him unfortunately Yagura survived. Yagura has now lost himself to his demon and has turned into the Sanbi, from what my teammate's summon saw the Mizukage is destroying everything in it's path. And he's going to be heading through here soon, whatever noncombatants you have in this hideout of yours need to evacuate. NOW!"

After dropping the news on them most of them were shocked at what they heard, some were dubious given just who was telling them such information. As whispers started to circulate Asuma simply kept his eyes on the woman in front of him, after waiting a few moments for his message to sink in he spoke.

"I know this sounds insane and trust me I understand why given your position, but me and my teammates only had everything to lose by coming here. We don't have anything to gain by trying to deceive you, and like my friend said earlier if we meant you harm we wouldn't have ran towards the FRONT ENTRANCE." he said with a much softer tone.

His words seemed to have an impact on most who was there, since their leader now seemed to have a look of worry on her otherwise perfect face. Swallowing a lump that had seemed to form in her throat she looked around at her men, before taking a look at the compound and the small crowd of people who had gathered outside to watch what was going on.

"Wh….What would you have us do then? We have nowhere else to go…." she said her voice now becoming strained as she tried to steel her nerves, and keep her emotions in check.

Looking the woman in the eye Asuma couldn't help but see some of himself inside of her, as both just wanted to protect their people. "I want you to get all of the non combatants as far away from here as you can, meanwhile me and my team will help your shinobi lead the Sambi in the opposite direction of those who can't fight." he answered gaining looks of shock from the leader. "My team have an extraction point on the Northeast coast, a few miles west of the cliff that's shaped like an elephant. There your people will find the ship that we used to get here, I'll have my teammate send a messenger snake ahead to let the captain know to expect you."

"Why?" one of them asked.

"Why would you help us?" asked some those gathered in the crowd.

Looking around at the people who were now circling them all he let out a sigh before answering. "Because we were there when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, it was the most terrifying night that any of us had ever seen. We were too young and powerless to do anything back then, but we swore we'd never let others go through that if we could stop it. No one should have to face down one of the Bijuu alone." he answered with a small smile as the people gathered began to thank him and his team.

Looking back to the women in front of him he spoke again. "We don't have much time Kunoichi-san, and every second _will_ count. Before my team arrived here one of our snake scouts reported that you would have just under two hours before the Sanbi arrives, and i never caught your name." he said finishing with a small smile.

"H-Hai, and it's Mei….Terumi Mei. And yours?" she answered a light hint of pink adorning her cheeks, something that a certain Genjutsu Mistress clearly saw.

"Sarutobi Asuma" he quickly answered.

Clearing her throat the woman now identified as Mei addressed those gathered. "Well you all heard the man! Anyone who's capable of fighting prepare for a war, everyone else pack only what you can carry on your back! All non combatants will be leaving for the Northeast coast in 45 minutes!" she hollered out with authority immediately spurring everyone into action.

Taking a look at Asuma's teammates Mei quickly sized them up before realizing that she recognized them, one was a very up and coming Genjutsu Mistress said to easily be on par with most Uchihas'. And the other was the former apprentice of Orochimaru himself! And was said to be a prodigy in her own right, having already earned many honorable mentions in the Bingo books. And then there was the man in front of her Asuma, the son of Hiruzen Sarutobi the Kami no Shinobi, and who was another prodigy who was known for using multiple elements in conjunction with his summons. _"Maybe….maybe things aren't as hopeless as i thought, we just might be able to pull this off!"_ she thought as she addressed the Konoha shinobi in front of her.

"Alright while my people prepare we need to talk, and come up with some sort of plan."

Stepping forward Anko spoke. "Way ahead of you, we've been thinking of one since we started heading this way." she said getting Mei's attention. "All we need to do is piss of the Sambi enough to get it follow us west down the coast, right to where we could have the rest of your men waiting for it. Then we hit it with everything we have till it leaves, its not like we need to WIN, we just need to make it go away." she with a bubbly smile.

"...Glad to see you're so optimistic in all of this…..and hai i do believe that to be the best strategy available, plus we also get the benefit of sparing the compound." Mei said somewhat incredulously.

"You're welcome!" Anko chirped.

Almost two hours later

Everything was quiet and empty at the once busy compound as all but four shinobi were left waiting, the civilians having been cleared out and long gone. With only the grand elders of the Terumi and Yuki clans to protect them, they had taken a rough map and began the trek to the extraction point. All that stood in the now empty compound were Mei, Asuma, Kurenai and Anko. As they lay in wait they kept their eyes peeled for anything that may be coming from the sea, they were not disappointed. Beginning as a speck on the water in the moonlit night, it steadily grew in size as it came closer. The shell of the Bijuu was massive as the top of it jutted out of the water, kicking up large waves as it neared the coast. Rising out of the water the Sanbi reared to its full height, glaring down at everything near it with its one visible eye.

As it began to sniff around the shinobi sprung into action with their plan, all of them knowing what their part was. Making several handsigns Kurenai let of multiple Genjutsus to both increase the Sanbi's sensitivity to pain, but to also focus on whatever causes it pain. As well as another to to make the Bijuu focus on only things that are currently hurting it, the more pain it was causing the more the Sanbi would focus on the source of its pain. With the Genjutsus in place Mei and Asuma lept into action, with a single cross handsigns Asuma summoned several Shadow Clones. Mei having finished her handsigns slammed her hands onto the ground, causing a large fissure to open up in the ground. From the fissure shot out a large concentrated blast of lava, meanwhile Asuma and his Shadow Clones all launched either **Katon: Dragon Fire Jutsu** or **Fuuton: Great Breakthrough**. The result was a massive blast of superheated lava that the Sanbi was blasted directly in the face with, as well as along the more vulnerable underbelly. The effect was almost instantaneous as the Sanbi reared backwards and roared in pain, which was what they had wanted as it allowed for a large water serpent to shoot of the water and sink its fangs into the Sanbi's neck. With its jaw set firmly in a death grip around the Bijuu's neck, the serpent quickly wrapped its body around the arms as it pumped as much of its poison into the massive demon.

No sooner had this all occurred the Sanbi crashed back into the seas and begun to roll around in an attempt to get the snake off, after a few minutes of this the snake was forced to dispel to avoid being bitten in half. As the Sanbi rose back out of the water it looked back to the coast line with untold hatred, only to see four shinobi running down the coast to escape. With a roar it took off after them in pursuit, wanting nothing more than to smash them against its shell. Looking over their shoulders the four ninja noted the Sanbi following them, and decided to slow down just enough to keep well outside its reach. The chase that ensued was one of the most nerve wracking times of the shinobis' lives, as on at least a dozen occasions the Sanbi nearly crushed them with it's arms or three tails.

As they rounded a very high up and rocky cliffside Anko spat a fireball into the air, having given the signal they all dove into the sand in front of the cliff. As the mad Bijuu rounded the corner it looked to see where they had gone only to see an empty beach, after a moment of looking back and forth it roared out in anger.

"Hey bonehead!" a voice called out from above quickly gaining the Sanbi's attention. Looking up it saw what appeared to be dozens of shinobi all standing at the top of the cliff, just a few dozen feet above it. But more importantly it saw the four ninjas from earlier, without even hesitating the Sanbi opened up its maw and let loose a powerful blast of water at the gathered ninjas. Only to strike what appeared to be thin air as asides from destroying a chunk of the cliff top, the gathered shinobi seemed to simply vanish. Before the Sanbi could react a massive column of earth shot out from the side of the cliffs, striking the Sanbi with enough force to push it back into further into the sea.

Shaking it's head to clear it the Bijuu let out an angered roar, as it saw most of the gathered shinobi appear along the beach and clifftops. Going through several handsigns the gathered shinobi began to call out the names to several different jutsu, all in rapid succession. Before the Sanbi could react massive amounts or sea water rose up from either side, covering the Bijuu and quickly turning into a thick layer of ice. The ice did not just cover its shell but also reached underneath to its underbelly and legs, leaving only its head tips of its tails free. As the jutsu finished many of the shinobi who were in charge capturing the Sanbi collapsed to one knee, as the massive consumption of chakra.

Struggling to free itself the Sanbi roared its fury at the shinobi, raising its head as high as it could the Sanbi opened its large maw and began to gather a massive amount of water. Forming it into a massive swirling ball of water the Sanbi suddenly spat it out at the gathered shinobi, before they could mount any type of defense the jutsu struck near the base of the cliffs killing at least half of the shinobi that had been on the beach. As the the surviving shinobi who were on the beach regrouped the skies they noticed were beginning to darken darken, the once bright full moon now gone behind angry thunderclouds.

Asuma and Mei who were with the remaining shinobi on the cliff tops noticed too, as the felt the winds pick up they both thought the heard a distorted voice carry on the wind. Channeling chakra into their ears they both tried to discern where it was coming from, till suddenly a light began to glow in the clouds above the Sanbi. Something that caught everyone's attention including the madly thrashing Bijuu, as the light began to steadily grow brighter the winds stopped altogether allowing to hear a voice.

" **Raiton: Descent of Shina!"**

Out from the clouds came a very large orb of what appeared to be pure lightning, stopping a dozen or so feet above the Sanbi's head the orb began to release large streams of lightning. The lightning immediately struck the Bijuu's face and head causing the Sanbi to scream in pain, while other streams touched down on the ice that entrapped it. Causing the electrical currents to travel all throughout the ice, shocking every single part of the Bijuu that was encased by the ice. When the Jutsu let up the Sanbi was more enraged and in pain then it ever was before, glaring at the shinobi it immediately began to strain its body.

As it strained against the confines of the ice cracks soon began to appear all over the surface, seeing this Anko spoke up. "Alright that isn't gonna hold for much longer, we need to hit it with everything we have now! And who the hell let off that Raiton jutsu?!"

"That would be us." came a gruff reply, turning around Anko and the other gathered shinobi saw two identical men both standing next to the ledge, one of whom was panting.

"Zabuza!" Mei exclaimed as she rushed over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. After letting go she backed off from her friend so he could breath, getting a grateful nod from him she smiled.

Looking back to the Konoha shinobi Zabuza spoke. "First off thanks for helping my people out the way you have, I was able to see most of it as I made my way here. After I saw that the Sanbi had been encased in ice I decided to let off an attack of my own, but I have to ask what and how the hell did you people get caught up in all of this?" he asked as his gaze bore down on them.

Without even batting an eyelash Asuma spoke up. "We were originally here in the country to simply confirm some of the rumors that we had started to hear of coming out of Water Country, generally stories about mass genocide on bloodline holders is outlandish. But my old man was curious enough to at least send me and my team out here to see if any of them were remotely true, imagine our surprise." he said as Anko walked up.

"I had my snakes scour alot of the towns around Water Country for the last three days while my familiar Hades hit up Kiri, I had them all report in earlier this night and we were able to find out everything that's been going on that way." she said as Hades uncurled himself from around her neck, showing that he wasn't just a large scarf to everyone who was there.

" **I saw what you did human, not gonna lie you were damn impressive with your stealth abilities. Especially when you dealt with Yagura and that masked asshole…."** Hades said as he extended his hood, revealing him to be a King Cobra. **"I was the one who was able to relay the message back to my summoner in time, afterwards it was decided to warn these people before it was too late."**

"That you did Slithery-kun!" Anko said smiling as she scratched his scales affectionately.

" **Contemptible woman! Don't call me that in front of strangers!"** he hissed, bopping her head with his tail.

"Anyways" interjected Mei. "What's up with your clone Zabuza? Is it that one type that you were talking about?"

"You know I'm right here you could just ask." Said the Blood Clone as he addressed Mei. "While my original was chasing after the Sanbi he knew he was going to need some help so he unsealed a jug of his blood from a storage scroll and used it to make me, now back to the meat of the issue. What are we going to do about the big ass Bijuu over there?" he asked as he pointed his thumb back over his shoulder at the Sanbi, just as it managed to free one of it's arms.

"Well me and a few members of my clan are trying to build up the enough lava for the Cronos Jutsu by by pulling it from deep within the earth, but it's taking us longer since my father isn't here." Mei explained as she stepped forward.

"Where the hell is that old coot, I figured if anything Yogan would be here." asked the original Zabuza.

"He's making sure all of the noncombatants get to Asuma-kuns extraction point, its where they have their ship moored. He should be here soon, once he arrives he'll be able to help us." answered Mei. "In the meantime we just have to hold the Sanbi off till then, and we already have enough lava built up for that." she said as she turned to her remaining clansmen, with a nod the four of them took their positions.

"You might want to back up." Mei smirked as she jumped over join her kinsmen.

Simultaneously all five of them began going through a long chain of hand seals before ending on a very strange hand sign, slamming their hands on the earth beneath them they all called out their jutsu. "Yoton: Tectonic Eruption!" The gathered shinobi watched in awe as almost the entire side of the cliffs were blown out in a massive volcanic eruption, the debris easily bouncing off what remains of the ice that trapped the Sanbi and it's shell. It did not stop there however as a large stream of lava shot out of the newly made fissure in the cliffs, flying through the air it hit dead center on top of the newly freed Sanbi. Screaming in pain the Sanbi flailed around in the still shallow waters as it tried to clear itself of the lava, it's efforts in vain as more and more lava was poured onto it. Meanwhile others began to call out their own jutsus as well, shooting high pressure water from their mouths onto the Sanbi, causing the molten hot lava to cool and solidify. Stopping the assault of lave the five Terumi clansmen quickly went through some handsigns before calling out in unison "Yoton: Rubber Cement!", causing the lava to quickly take on an incredibly durable grey rubber like quality further pinning down the Sanbi.

Before the shinobi could cheer however they felt an unholy blast of KI soak the entire beach stopping them dead in their tracks, the KI was coming from Sanbi who began to build up more chakra than any of them had ever seen. As they watched in horror small specks of coral began to grow on and around the Sanbi, before slowly spreading over itself.

"Shit!" swore Anko as she watched this unfold.

"We're going to need to come up with a new plan at this point, we can't afford to wait for Yogan to arrive!" screamed out one of the frightened shinobi.

"NO! If we run that thing will just pick us all off! Here we at least have the advantage of being able to use the landscape, the only thing we can do is stand and hit it with everything we have!" screamed Asuma as he began to bark out orders, before quickly turning to Zabuza. "What's the strongest attack you've got?"

"What? Why?" both Zabuza's asked both deeply confused.

"Because we need to buy as much time as we can get, Kurenai is already doing everything she can to keep that thing only focussed on whatever pain it's experiencing at the moment. It takes some amount of concentration for that thing to turn that rubber cement into coral, if we hit it with our hardest attacks together we should be able to at least stun it long enough to break it's concentration. We need all the time we can get for Yogan-san to arrive!" answered Asuma as he popped a soldier pill in his mouth and swallowed it whole.

"Fine I'm game, my strongest is a combination of high level Suiton and Raiton. From the Bingo books you're a Fuuton and Katon correct?" asked Zabuza getting a nod in response.

"Mine is a combination of Fuuton and Katon, what are we aiming at?" asked Asuma.

"The face, have your woman hit it with everything she has on her next Genjutsu. The more pain the better." answered Zabuza gaining a brief blush from Asuma and Kurenai. And with that Zabuza unsheathed his sword and held it with both hands while his Blood Clone began to pour as much of its chakra into him, after gathering the required amount into his sword he lifted it up and began to slowly twirl it around. As he did this the Blood Clone continued to pump its chakra into its master, as water from the seas began to rise up and collect into a large swirling sphere above his head. All the while the sheer raw chakra powered electricity in the sword supercharged the gathering water, going further than just electrifying the water but making it a true combination of the elements.

Asuma was just as busy as he and his 6 remaining Shadow Clones stood in a circled surrounding Zabuza and his clone, building up their chakra as high as it could go. Five of Asuma's clones began breathing out large amounts of wind, which they simultaneously shaped into an incredibly fast moving funnel around them. Compressing It down to only reach their waists, meanwhile Asuma and his remaining clone kneaded a considerable amount of chakra infused fire from their lungs. As well as from the lava in the fissure next to them into the wind funnel creating an enormously bright circle of fire, as it began to pick up speed so too did the jutsu's power as both shinobi reached their limits and called out their respective jutsus names.

"Suiton and Raiton Combination Jutsu: Big Bang Attack!"

"Katon: Raging Storm of the Dragon!"

As both shinobi let of their jutsu Zabuza swung his sword forward launching the now glowing orb that he had created, causing his Blood Clone to disperse into a puddle of blood in the process. While Asuma's clones simultaneously dispersed as well, Asuma who was hunched backward next to Zabuza lurched forward slamming his hands on the ground. And sent a funnel of blue flames forward surrounding Zabuza's jutsu and pushing it forward at greater speeds, but as the massive jutsu sped on something happened to it that none of them anticipated. As the two volatile jutsus were fired off they seemed to combine with one another as all of the fire from Asuma's attack was absorbed into the swirling mass that was Zabuza's jutsu. The sheer weight and power of the jutsu having the effect of pushing all sand and debris from the beach, as well as the very water from the sea away from it in any given direction for 200 feet. Becoming its own new and unheard of element the jutsu slammed into the Sanbi's chest creating a massive blast, one that launched the mighty Bijuu through the air and further into the sea. The gathered shinobi were under similar conditions, as they had all been sent flying back when the pressure of the blast reached them. Their only protection being the cliffs which were now mostly destroyed, the fissure that had been created by the Terumi clansmen now several times larger as lava flowed freely onto the beach.

As the shinobi slowly came to most of them were seeing three of everything as they tried to push themselves into a sitting or kneeling position, looking around Mei and Kurenai spotted Asuma and Zabuza passed out on the ground next to each other. Dragging themselves over to the two men they quickly began to check their vitals and ran basic diagnostic jutsus on the two men, both were certainly suffering from sever chakra exhaustion. Both men were going to be on bed rest for some time before they were able to move around again, looking up at one another they shared a look as they both knew how desperate their situation was now.

They could all, only hope that last attack had at least sent the Sanbi running, or maybe rendered it unconscious. As they looked around Anko stumbled over to them before plopping down on her rear next to the two women, blowing a stray bang out out of her face she looked back out to sea where all that could be seen was billowing smoke.

"You know I remember something from when I was Orochimaru's apprentice." Anko began, in a tone that was uncharacteristically serious of her. "He had always held a fascination with Ninjutsu and especially Kekkai Genkais, how they worked, how they operated, what made them tick. Along with all the different types that existed, but I remember one thing that he said for sure." she said as she paused to breath. "He said that all of them hold great power, including the power to evolve over the generations and that some of the most powerful ones are still waiting to be discovered. Girls, you should know that that wasn't a massive combination attack…..that was the birth of a new Kekkei Genkai. And most likely a Kekkei Tota." she said as she looked back at the now stunned women, as well as most of the other shinobi who were actually conscious.

"What the devil is going on here?!" came a much older voice that was instantly recognized my all of them.

Turning around they looked to see a much older man who was easily in his fifties, he looked like something out of an old legend with a blend of certain obvious pirate and shinobi elements. He wore a pair of baggy black pants that were tucked into his heavily buckled steel toed boots that most corsairs preferred. With a white shirt that was left untied at the front revealing his still heavily muscled chest, over which he wore a long black trench coat. His shirt was tucked into his pants and around his waist a large buckled belt that held his shinobi equipment, and around his midriff was a dark red sash. On his belt he wore a very large shinobi pouch on the back while on his hips were two large beautiful long swords, his hair was peppered grey and black and hung in a low ponytail. While his beard was flowing and had several metallic beads and rings in it, over his head he wore a simple bandana that matched his sash. As his dark grey eyes took in everything in front of him with a calculating gaze he could only come to one conclusion.

"Well you people look like shit…." he stated causing many of those gathered to face fault.

Looking at the unconscious forms of Zabuza and Asuma the strange man walked over to inspect the damage, as he arrived Mei stood up and addressed him.

"Uncle Yogan, they're both out cold and we're all on our last legs. We don't even know if we managed to even scare off the Sanbi thanks to the smoke, we need to leave as soon as we can!" she said her voice becoming more urgent near the end.

Stroking his beard Yogan crossed his arms, "Trust me that damn beast is still here just stunned and severely weakened." he said as he walked over to the ledge of the large fissure and peered down.

The news that was just so casually dropped on them had them stunned for moment before the color started to drain from their faces, as they realized that most of their hopes and dreams just went out the window. "Wh-What did you say?" asked Mei as the rest of the conscious shinobi gathered around him.

"You all heard me, besides I can sense him. He's still there and he should be waking up soon by my reckoning, three minutes tops. Of all the Bijuu the Sanbi always had the greatest defenses ever, capable of absorbing or repelling Tailed Beast Balls from several of its kin without any problems. The blast that was from before must have easily been a high S Rank jutsu to stun the Sanbi so thoroughly, those kinds of things just don't happen." Yogan said thoughtfully as he walked to what was left of the cliffs, forming a single hand seal Yogan called out "Fuuton: Great Gale Palm!". Thrusting his left hand forward he let loose a massive blast of wind, that forced all of the smoke and dust to be pushed back and dissipate revealing the scorched shell of the Sanbi. As the gathered shinobi looked on they saw to their horror that the giant Bijuu was already beginning to stir eve so slowly, as it's arms stretched out in attempt to right itself as it's tails slowly rose out of the water. As it did this a very deep pained groan escaped it's mouth as it stretched out it's massive body, its tails now swinging back and forth behind it more energetically as it slowly shook its head and glared down what few shinobi were even conscious. Looking over its shoulder the Sanbi saw first hand the damage that had been done to it's beautiful shell, without another thought it's body became aglow with light green energy as water rushed up its body from the sea.

As they watched this unfold Mei glanced over to her left towards her uncle for some reassurance, only to discover that he was gone. Looking around quickly she found him marching towards the giant fissure that now stretched all the way through the cliffs to the beach, before she could call out he was already going through hand seals.

"Summoning Jutsu!" he called out as he slammed his now slightly bloodied hand on the ground, in a small puff of smoke appeared a 3 foot long serpentine creature.

Looking around it noticed the Sanbi which was still in the process of healing itself, and didn't look to be halfway through. Giving its own equivalent of slumping its shoulders it cast an irritated eye up at Yogan, before responding in a feminine voice.

" **Seriously? Again?When are you going to finally find a suitable container for that thing Yogan? And here I actually thought that Yagura boy would do the trick(sigh), let's just get this over with."** the small summon said as it slowly began to grow in size.

"Now now Ouka-chan, Yagura is still in there he's just lost control and is in a blood rage. Besides these young bloods have already worn it down to the point where it's very weak and injured, we just need to flex some muscles to scare it off. We're not gonna be fighting it when it's at full power like the last 3 times, now I believe you know what to do." replied candidly as he began a very long sequence of hand seals.

" **(sigh)...Hai hai, I'm on it."** the now named Ouka replied, now the size of a large horse at this point. Twitching it's large fleshy whiskers the sea serpent took off across the ground, now rapidly growing in size as it leapt over the side of the cliffs and landed in the sea. As Mei watched this with Anko and Kurenai they turned their heads to Yogan, just time to see him finish his last hand seal and dive into the lava.

The gasping shriek that escaped their throats snapped the rest of the shinobi out of their reverie, as they looked over just in time to see Yogan disappear over the ledge. Running up to Mei one of her kinsmen gently grabbed her shoulder, gaining her attention he spoke.

"Don't worry lady Mei, this is simply part of one of Yogan-sama's most powerful jutsu. This is the same jutsu that he used to single handedly defeat the Sanbi with, throughout the years whenever it broke free of it's Jinchuuriki Yogan would battle it into submission." he said gaining a shocked look from Mei.

"Benki! You mean he's using _that_ jutsu?" she asked gaining a nod from the now identified Benki.

"Hai, the jutsu requires immense amounts of lava to work, which was why he had us trying to pull as much lava from underground as we could. It use to be no problem for him to simply create the necessary amounts of lava from within him, but despite his constant training he's still an old man. Which was why he had us focus so heavily on pulling up as much of it as we could, the more lava that there is the more powerful the jutsu becomes." Benki explained.

"Mei-san….." Kurenai began. "Just what jutsu is Benki-san talking about?"

"Something I never really thought I would ever see…" Mei replied as she stared down into the churning lava as it began to practically surge on its own.

" **Yoton: Wrath of Cronos!"** thundered a voice from seemingly everywhere. Moments later a massive arm or molten lava and rock erupted from within the fissure, and came down gripping the ground on the opposite side of the fissure from the shinobi. The shinobi watched in awe as a horned humanoid head rose out from the ground, followed by a neck and upper torso as its other hand rose up and gripped the other ledge. Rising up to its full height the entire creature was made of glowing lava, which broiled and churned as it flowed over it's body. Over its arms and legs as well as its chest and back where large compressed rocks, which seemed to act as some form of armor. As the Lava Titan stepped out onto the beach it let out a massive roar as it stood up to its full height, its shoulders easily reaching over the top of the cliffs.

As the Sanbi glared at the new threat it was caught off guard when a large finned serpentine tail shot out of the water, slamming into its face before disappearing into the water as quickly as it came. Shaking its head the Bijuu looked back towards the Lava Titan just in time to see a massive Leviathan rise up out of the seas, just in front of the beach both staring down the weakened demon. Not willing to risk anything the Bijuu began to build up and concentrate its power into its mouth, forming a massive ball of swirling black and purple energy. Acting immediately the Leviathan then dived back into the seas its long body trailing behind it into the depths, while the titan sucked in air before spitting out massive amounts of lava. Landing in between them the lava reached down to the very sea floor and rose up as a towering wall of thick lava, as the Sanbi finished its jutsu the the Leviathan shot out from the water and headbutted the Sanbi in the chin. Causing the Bijuudama to be fired off at an upwards angle, and giving Ouka the chance she needed to sink her own fangs into the same side that Anko's summon had earlier that night. Wrapping around the Sanbi's neck the much larger and more heavily muscled summon, then flipped around and to the shock of those gathered threw the Bijuu onto its back causing a small tsunami to be kicked up.

The Lava Titan meanwhile used the lava wall to deal with the Bijuudama, as it didn't hit dead on but instead the upper half of wall he acted quickly. Pushing more chakra and lava into the wall to strengthen it the lava pushed the ball up as hard as it could, forcing it to fly overhead missing everything and flying off into the sky. Disappearing off into the distance it soon was out of sight before it finally exploded, the blast illuminating the entire beach.

As the Sanbi flipped over and righted itself it let out an angered roar, before it turned around and dove into the water and began to swim at impressive speeds into open water. As the Bijuu swam away it delved deeper and deeper into the ocean, before all trace of it had vanished. Turning back towards the beach, the Lava Titan slowly began to crumble and collapse on itself as it neared the cliffs. When the train reached the very top off the cliffs a very winded Yogan stepped out of its chest and onto the grass, causing the rest of the lava construction to fall apart into a large pool of lava.

Walking over to where Mei, Anko and kurenai were Yogan promptly sat down with a fairly loud huff.

Looking over at Zabuza and Asuma he gave them both a calculating look, after making up his mind he spoke. "I don't know what happened when they did that last attack of theirs, but was definitely no ordinary jutsu. Not one that belongs to any known element at least, i think these two might have stumbled on a new Kekkai Tota." he said as Kurenai knelt down next to him on his left, with Mei on his right.

"Thank you." they both said before planting a kiss on his cheeks, something that made him the envy of every male there.

Looking over to Mei he spoke. "We're going to have to up your training to make you more combat ready, this shouldn't have happened this way. I don't know what happened in Kiri but something major must have happened to cause Zabuza to fail, especially after all the help I've given him to kill Yagura. We need to prepare Mei, I'm not going to be around for much longer and you still have a lot to learn. War is coming…." he said as he stood back up.

As he looked out towards the sea he could see the beginnings of dawn approaching, seeing that the hellish night had finally come to a close he noticed something that made him smile. Coming around the bend was a very familiar ship that he had recently seen only a few hours ago, smiling Yogan reached into his inner coat pocket and fished out a very large cigar. Lighting up with a small flame from his fingertip he enjoyed the smell and taste as he thought over what had transpired, he had been impressed with the young Konoha shinobi's resolve and character. He knew that he couldn't expect any legitimate help from Konoha but perhaps, after the upcoming war is finished there could be talks of peace between villages. He knew it was little more than wishful thinking but as the dawn slowly crept up over the horizon, Yogan just couldn't help but feel optimistic and hopeful.

 **End chapter**

 **Oh my fucking god it feels so damn good to finish this chapter! To my loyal readers I'm sorry that it's taken me this damn long to complete these last two chapters, I've had to deal with some insane hours lately on top of taking a class to gain my lvl. 3 Security license. So basically i spent the last 2 weeks working Monday-Thursday nights with Friday off, and then i spent all day Saturday and Sunday at class. I basically only had 2 days off these past weeks.**

 **Now as for the story the chapters are going to be coming out on a much more regular basis now that I finished chapters 4 and 5. I had to take my time with these past two chapters because I wanted to make sure I did them eight and didn't fuck them up, especially since the events in them will have a very profound effect on the rest of the story down the road. The next chapter is going to have to do with mostly Kakuzu's past, and how it is going to play a very integral part in the story. I'm going to also touch off on Naruto's horns and what happened when he woke up the next morning. Also please leave comments and reviews, the more the better because your direct input helps my story and will have a good chance of being implemented in the story somehow. And I promise I will try to get to all of you who do have questions or comments, till then I'm out!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Akuma Sannin**

 **Hey yall so this here is the 6th chapter that im writing, this will be focussing heavily on Kakuzu's past, and his relationship with Naruto's clan. I'm also going to be introducing some very big artefacts that belong to the Uzumaki Clan, as well as what I consider to be a far more in depth look into what happened during the Fall of Uzu. Pay attention to what happens in this chapter! Because some of what is going to be revealed in this chapter is going to have some very significant ramifications later on in the story. Also I want to apologize for the wait in between the last few chapters as well as thank you all for your patience, I've had a lot of things going on for me that took up a lot of my time. I work security and had recently completed everything I needed to start doing armed security, a process that took over a month for me to do, and with Hurricane Harvey hitting Texas a few weeks ago me and the rest of the armed security were pulling some crazy ass shifts. Especially since we had to send a lot of our guys to Corpus Christi and Houston, but now that things have died down now I've been able to get very far with writing. Now strap yourselves in because even I have been waiting to do this chapter specifically.**

Near the Southern borders of Water Country

The area was a relatively flat grassland that was filled to the brim with a very dense mist, a typical feature of those lands. One that was known for being the ultimate frustration to travelers, and the greatest boon to the local shinobi. As two figures emerged from the mists and set foot onto the sandy shores they both let out a collective sigh, while both were S Rank shinobi even they had their limits.

Deciding to rest they both sat down in the sand, and enjoyed their first _real_ rays of sunshine in three weeks. Looking over to her partner the female decided to ask something that had been bugging her for almost 6 months.

"So Kakuzu what gives?" she asked with the tact and subtlety of a sledgehammer.

Broken from his musings the now identified Kakuzu turned to look at his partner, "What do you want now Hitome?" he growled out, his frustration over their previous mission having put him in a particularly foul mood.

Rolling her eyes Hitome pressed on "What I'm talking about is your attitude lately, I've known you for several years now and I've never seen you act this way before. It started shortly after we got back from that mission to collect Kanetora's bounty, I've never known you to be a charitable guy. Especially when you walked right up to the Tsuchikage and handed him the Vollund, that was the first sign that something was wrong with you." Hitome said as she carefully looked over her partner, his posture and body language revealing nothing.

"Now that I've had some time to think about it you've been acting a lot nicer towards Naruto, I almost missed it till I saw how you actually talking to him. You were being far more understanding and patient with him, then you ever are with anyone else. And don't think I haven't noticed how we seem to be getting along better lately either, since when do I sleepwalk after drinking? I know it has to be you who's been carrying me to bed and even tucking me in, hell we even have conversations whenever we aren't busy." she said gaining an irritated glare from Kakuzu.

"Any idea when you're going to get to the point already?" he asked as he stood back up and dusted himself off.

"Yeah why have you been acting so strange lately and where the hell are we going?" Hitome asked.

There was silence from the large man as he listened to the sound of the waves rolling up on the beach, the sound briefly taking him back to a time several decades prior.

"I want to fulfill a promise to an old friend..." he finally spoke. "And say goodbye to someone else…" With that Kakuzu stalked off a few feet away where he undid the front of his Akatsuki robe, taking it off he stored it in a small sealing scroll. Without another word his back opened up as the mask for his Fuuton and Katon hearts moved closer towards the upper center, as a pair of very large wings shot out of his back. The wings were made of the black threads that were apart of his body, taking on a very bat-like appearance.

"Climb on and hold on tight, we have a long way to go from here." Kakuzu said as he looked over his shoulder at her, who was already on her feet.

Dusting herself off as she walked over to him she climbed on having already done this once before, after wrapping her arms around Kakuzu's neck more of the thick threads shot out of Kakuzu's back and wrapped around her. After Hitome was secure Kakuzu kicked off of the ground as his wings gave a very powerful chakra infused push, within seconds the two of them were soaring through the air at incredible speeds.

In River Country

Naruto sighed as he poured over his new favorite book, the last 6 months had been a blast for him. He had learned so much that it was unbelievable, ever since that night when he grew his horns it seemed things had really been going his way. He had managed to learn all of the things that Konan had meant to teach him while she was there, which meant one of his favorite things: learning new Ninjutsu! After he finally managed to get the hang of turning his chakra into Suiton and Fuuton, he was able to spam clones to learn whatever jutsu he was given. Just like with his other elements Konan started out by giving him E and D ranked jutsus to learn, and drilled him and his clones into the ground on them till he had met her personal standards. Which Naruto quickly found out meant absolute perfection, not just with Suiton and Fuuton but with all of the other jutsu that he had learned as well. Konan was the textbook definition of a perfectionist, pushing him till every jutsu he had been given to learn could be performed with only one hand seal or none at all. It was only then that she started to teach him B ranked Ninjutsu for Raiton, Katon and Doton. Teaching him the Dragon Bullet Jutsus for each element, and giving him a scroll for the Suiton and Fuuton variants saying he should learn them on his own time. Naruto was also taught several more B ranked jutsu for each of his main elements, a process that had the poor Hanyou spamming Shadow Clones for a month and a half in order to learn and master.

One of the things that also caught Naruto's interest was during one of his daily spars with Konan, she had used one of her Paper Clones to explode near him. After asking her how she had done that, she had explained how she had an explosive note that she had made hidden inside. Once the clone got close enough the clone would pulse its chakra and trigger the explosive note, a simple but incredibly effective tactic. After finishing the explanation Konan went on to give Naruto a quick run down on Fuinjutsu and what it was, and most importantly what it could do. She then went on to tell him how it was the only shinobi art that truly had no limit to its applications, but was easily the most difficult of them all. To say the young boy was interested in Fuinjutsu was like saying the surface of the sun was 'pleasantly warm', he immediately began to beg Konan to teach him. He had been so adamant over it that she had to promise to at least show him the basics at some point, but till then they had a schedule to keep to.

Another interesting thing that Konan had revealed to him, was the real reason behind why he was his chakra powered Taijutsu attacks were so dangerous. In their final month together, Konan revealed that it was because he was overloading his attacks with too much chakra. Causing each strike he let off to have enough power to a fuel a B rank jutsu, coupled with the fact that his demonic chakra was incredibly volatile and far more potent than regular chakra, meant he would have to be very careful. He would need to spend years working on chakra control, something that the eight year old boy just didn't have at the moment. Till then she drilled him into the ground on his Taijutsu and Kenjutsu, with him spending 8-12 hours every day Konan going over all of his forms. This allowed Naruto to master stages three and four of Kanjo Tekina Ikari, as well as as all of the C and B rank forms and techniques of the Tetsu no Ryu sword style.

When it came time to say goodbye to Konan, she had surprised Naruto by telling him that she would visit him from time to time. After she left Kakuzu took Naruto off to see for himself how he had progressed, which led to several hours of practically fighting for his life. But in the end had been able to show everything that he had learned, and Kakuzu presented him with something incredible. Thanks to their last mission Kakuzu was able to hunt down a very powerful missing nin who had an affinity for Fuuton and Doton, he even had a Kekkai Genkai called Tetsuton, or Magnet Release. After killing the man Kakuzu had been able to use his Jiongu to gather the man's chakra into his heart as it was ripped out, which he then sealed in a ANBU grade stasis sealing scroll. As he unsealed the heart which was then a pulsing mass of black threads, he gave it to Naruto saying it was time to start 'building his collection'. While morbid as hell even Kurama-chan agreed that it would be wise to accept it, after taking the heart he had lifted up his shirt and held it up to his back allowing it to merge with his body. The effects were instantaneous as he immediately felt a _very_ large rush of power flow throughout his body, as his chakra finally settled down he felt different. Naruto couldn't place his finger on it but he felt like he had gotten something that was missing before, deciding to chalk it up to getting a new heart he didn't think anything more of it.

The next few months afterwards had been a blast, as Naruto was able to go through the scroll which contained jutsu for both Suiton and Fuuton. He had also noticed that his Doton jutsus seemed to be much more powerful than before, when Naruto asked Kakuzu about this he explained that it was due to the fact that he has two hearts with an affinity for Doton. Which made his Doton jutsus able to overpower certain Raiton jutsus of the same rank, an effect that both Naruto and Kakuzu learned the hard way. When during one of their spars Naruto had used Doton: Earth Dragon Bullet on Kakuzu, who had responded with Raiton: Sphere Shield. The blast that from the two jutsus colliding sent Naruto flying into a tree, meanwhile Kakuzu was sent flying over the trees and into the nearby river. Unfortunately the spot he landed in was where Hitome happened to have been swimming in the nude, when he came back up for air he got to see Hitome in all her naked glory. After a few moments Kakuzu had to dodge and evade a very deadly barrage of wind blades and water drills, as a _very pissed off_ towel clad Hitome began chasing him around the area.

The biggest surprise however came a few months later, when Konan and Hitome threw him a small party for his 8th birthday. Hitome had given him his first gift which had been Jashinist Blade, a Kukri whose blade was 13 inches long and as blood red as the blades on her scythe. It came in a black leather sheath and was folded Damascus steel, Naruto still couldn't figure out why the blade was red or what it did, but it was still cool.

Next was Konan who had presented him with a small cake before handing him a small stack of books, after examining the top one he saw that they were Fuinjutsu books for both beginners and the intermediate. Needless to say Naruto had been floored by the gift as much as the Kukri, looking at them both he wrapped his arms around their waists and hugged them.

Kakuzu had merely said that he would have to wait for hell to freeze over if he expected a hug, before tossing him a scroll. Opening it up Naruto saw that it contained at least a dozen different advanced chakra control exercises, looking up to thank the large man he saw that Kakuzu had already left. The rest of the night had been particularly delightful for Naruto as he got to simply be a kid and celebrate his birthday, something that he had not been able to do for years. Though the little Hanyou did notice that Kakuzu was never far off, having appeared to simply keep a distance that night.

The next day however Kakuzu and Hitome left for some mission, saying that they would be back as soon as they could. Shaking his head to clear it Naruto went back to the book he was previously absorbed in, he had already read it twice and couldn't get enough of it. _The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja._

On a desolate island somewhere in the Kaijuu Ocean

"Jashin _dammit_ Kakuzu what the fuck!?" screamed a very irate Hitome as she crashed into a large sandbar. They had been flying for almost two whole days having finally arrived at their destination early that morning, Hitome for herself had been absolutely freezing for the last 18 hours as they flew through a storm. Trying her hardest to keep her teeth from chattering she quickly began to rub her arms in an attempt to get the blood flowing again.

Kakuzu couldn't stop the diversive snort that escaped him "Tch, it's not my fault you barely wear anything, and I told you that we were going to be flying." he growled out as he tried to regain his breath. Having to fly and carry someone on your back for two days through most of a storm would tire anyone out, especially if that person was Hitome.

"Ha! That's funny I don't remember hearing you complain before Ero-Musha! For all I know you're probably enjoying the show, you probably can't wait to peak on me again!" she said with a huff, ever since that incident she had started to notice that Kakuzu's eyes were starting to gaze at her when he thought she wasn't paying attention. Something that had sparked her calling him Ero-Musha, a nickname that Kakuzu absolutely hated.

"What the hell are you talking about you dumb woman? Kakuzu growled as he stood back up and dusted himself off, while trying his best not to strangle his partner.

"Oh don't you pay play dumb with me, you're not as slick as you think you are. I've seen you checking me out!"

"Tch I think the storm fried what few brain cells you had left. You sure you didn't take a hit from some lightning?"

"Oh fuck you asshole!" came Hitome's articulate reply.

"I'd rather not thank you, now come on and follow me. We have a ways to go before we make it to our destination, I want to get to cover before the storm hits." Kakuzu said as he turned and promptly stalked off, leaving Hitome where she stood.

Looking around at the clear skies and calm waters of the ocean, Hitome asked to herself. "What storm?" Muttering to herself about stupid partners never telling her anything she took off after Kakuzu, catching up to him she noticed that he had taken off his mask and hood. Walking in silence for a few hours, neither said anything as they continued down a faded path through an open meadow. Before too long something began to appear in the distance, whatever it was massive but was merely a speck in the distance. As they began to get closer Hitome noticed how her partner had a far off look on his face, but more surprising, was a look of grief that would sometimes flash across his face.

Not really knowing how to respond to any of this Hitome elected to simply keep walking, before long they had gotten close enough to see what had been in the distance. It was a wall easily as large as the one that surrounded Konoha, and looming over it was large cylindrical building. It was a faded navy blue in color and held a large insignia of a spiral on the front of it, the wall itself had large holes in it and in other places had collapsed down. As the pair of Akatsuki members approached the broken down gates, Hitome noticed the same spiral was on each of the gate doors. Looking around Hitome saw how they were now standing at the main entrance to the ruins of what looked like a shinobi village at one point, as she surveyed her surroundings as they began to walk again she saw the signs. There were craters of various sizes dotting the village, many buildings had large portions of them that were destroyed with the debris littering the area. Many of the buildings were levelled or in ruin, in some places Hitome even saw the shadows of people burned onto walls. The final thing she noticed as they walked through the streets of the dead ruins, were the corpses of long dead shinobi littering the streets. The dead now dirty bleached bones still in their worn clothes, Hitome was able to pick out the foreign shinobi by what remained by their uniforms and headbands. There were shinobi from Kirigakure, Iwagakure, Kusagakure and even Takigakure. All of which she could tell from their headbands and old fashioned armors, and still she saw many of the other dead belonged to the locals thanks to their spiral headbands.

As they walked through the dead streets Hitome couldn't take it anymore, "Alright that's it!" she said as she gained Kakuzu's attention, seemingly breaking him out of his silent brooding.

Gaining an annoyed look he asked, "What?".

"Kakuzu where the fuck are we!? I can tell this place was obviously invaded but I've never even heard of anything this scale happening, just where are we?"

Sighing Kakuzu looked around at the destruction that surrounded them, after a few moments he answered. "Welcome…." he said as he raised his arms up in a mock greeting. "...to Uzushiogakure, the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools." he said as he lowered his arms back down to his sides before continuing on towards the large building that was at the center of the village.

Hitome for once was truly speechless as she looked around her at the surrounding ruins, she had grown up only hearing about this place and the wonders that were said to be here. She really couldn't believe it, she was standing in the ruins of the Sixth Great Shinobi Village! The only one that was said to be more powerful than even Konoha, and twice as dangerous.

"Hitome!" came Kakuzu's gruff voice snapping her out of her reverie, looking over she saw that has was standing a good ways away tapping his foot impatiently. Looking somewhat sheepish Hitome quickly caught up to her partner before they continued, as they reached the building it was obvious that it had seen better days. It had portions of it that were simply missing having been blasted away, there was moss growing up the northern side as well as a large pile of rubble along the side from an area that collapsed.

"Kakuzu….is this what I think it is?" asked Hitome as they both entered the run down building.

"Yes it is, this is the Uzukage Tower. It was built in the center of the village so that everyone could be equally close to the Uzukage and the royal family." he answered as he stepped over a large beam and proceeded up a large flight of stairs. "It was built this large so that way it could act not only as a monument like the Hokage Mountain of Konoha, but would allow them to see enemies from considerable distances in all directions. It also could aid in village defense as a place for their shinobi to let off long range attacks in any direction, from a highly elevated position."

"Really? That's impressive...wait how do you know so much about this place? I know you were around in that time but how could you know things like that?" asked Hitome as she tried to piece things together. "Wait….did you _live_ here at some point?!" Hitome asked incredulously as they climbed higher and higher, stepping over debris and the bones of fallen shinobi.

Choosing to ignore the question entirely Kakuzu instead picked up the pace as they passed floor after floor, after finally reaching the top floor they stopped as they came across a large ornate door. The years had taken its toll as the engraved designs had been faded by time, the symbol of Uzu still proudly displayed on the the front. Walking up to it Kakuzu reached out his hand to open it before he paused, taking back his hand he then went through several hand seals before ending on the Dragon seal. A moment later there was a soft _click_ followed by a the heavy sound of several hidden cogs and gears turning, before the large door swung open. Walking in the Akatsuki were treated to a view of what used to be a very large office, it was very spacious with a relaxing aura to it. It was apparent that no one had set foot in here in years by the miraculously small layer of dust everywhere, with one wall completely covered in a large bookcase that held hundreds old volumes and scrolls. While throughout the rest of the room where couches and small coffee tables set up for comfort, there was even a small bar in the far corner of the room of all things. And there at the end of it all was an incredibly large desk, one that was truly fit for a king or some emperor. It had large archaic designs of regal dragons, and other such monsters. The wall behind this desk were large glass windows allowing for a truly stunning view of the village, as they walked in Hitome noticed one final detail about the room. And that was the large symbol of Uzugakure carefully etched and carved into the center of the floor, reaching the desk Kakuzu stopped as he stared at the desk. His mind immediately flooded with many memories of the man who once worked at this desk, and how his decisions had had such an impact on Kakuzu's life.

Shaking his head Kakuzu quickly gathered his thoughts, turned to his partner. "This was the office of Kenpachi Uzumaki the Shodaime Uzukage of Uzushiogakure, and the last Clan Head of the Uzumaki Clan." he said as he walked around the desk so he could start going through its drawers.

As Kakuzu did this Hitome spoke up "So Kakuzu not that I'm not having a blast here and all, but do you think you could feather it in for me on what the fuck we're doing here!?" she asked screaming at the end having become fed up with lack of answers.

This seemed to have the desired effect as it forced Kakuzu to look up from what he was doing as he fished out a very old leather journal, staring at her for a few moments.

"We are here to gather Naruto's inheritance…" he answered gaining a confused look from Hitome, deciding to elaborate he pressed on. "To my knowledge Naruto is the last of the Royal Uzumaki bloodline, a lineage that stretches back to the Sage of Six Paths himself. A lineage that for many years I had feared was destroyed, till a certain red haired swordswoman from Konoha made herself famous. As it stands Naruto is the crowned prince of Uzu and all of her limitless wealth, as well as the Clan Head." he said as he watched bemusedly as Hitome's face went from one of confusion, to shock, to purely dumbfounded.

"Oho? Finally rendered speechless huh?" he chuckled.

Shaking her head Hitome took in what she had just heard, especially since was the most she had gotten out of Kakuzu in the last week. "Wait what is there here for Naruto to gain? Even if he really is all of that stuff there's nothing here, these are all just ruins." asked Hitome gaining a smirk from her partner.

With a twist of his hand which was still inside one of the drawers, a hidden compartment within the desk silently slid out from the underside of the desk revealing a very large key. Picking it up gently Kakuzu answered, "Oh trust me the Uzumaki were easily the most cunning and deviously inventive people that ever lived, and they made sure that if they ever fell that no outsiders would ever steal their treasures or jutsu." he said as he walked to the large symbol of Uzu on the ground, kneeling down he then went through dozens of hand seals before placing his hand on the center. Pumping large amounts of chakra into it the entire symbol began to light up with a bright pale green light, before at the very center a s hole opened up. Taking the key in his hands he fed the head of the key into small hole and twisted, the results being immediate as the sound of many heavy locks and gears loudly came to life. As the key was swallowed up into the hole the rest of the symbol began to glow brighter as Kakuzu stood up, looking over to Hitome he held out his hand to her.

"Come on before you get left behind." he said causing Hitome to once again snap out of her stupor, hurrying over she stepped into the glowing circle. She was caught by surprise however when Kakuzu wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close to himself, "Good now hang on." He said as they both disappeared with a large _snap._

 _Meanwhile_

As Naruto laid gasping for air on the ground he honestly couldn't believe that he had done it, he had decided to take his training with Fuinjutsu seriously. Which had led him to coming up with an exercise where he would make a large number of clones and he would have to dispatch them using the fuinjutsu that he had learned, while fighting all of them off at once. Over the months he had learned much about Fuinjutsu theory and all of its applications, as well as learning several D and C ranked seals already. But more importantly how best to combine them all for a more devastating effect, the latest of his attempts being a seal tag that combined the Spellbinding Chains seal formula with a standard explosive note, as well as another seal called Summoning Tools - Metal Swarm Strike. The result being a single seal tag that would activate on the user's command or when someone was in its vicinity, hurling sharp chains to lash and bind an enemy long enough to be caught by a large explosion. While at the same time that the seal is exploding it releases a large amount of kunai, the explosion causing them to scatter in a full 360 degrees and covering a 90 ft. radius. Several times throughout the entire fight the chains from one of Naruto's seals had been able to ensnare as many as seven clones before detonating, which allowed for Naruto to take out even more 'hostiles'.

As Naruto lay there in the grass Konan walked over to him from where she had been watching her young charge train, she had to admit she was certainly impressed. Not many can pick up fuinjutsu for anything more than simply being able to store things or make explosive notes, let alone create such an effective seal in only a handful of months. After listening to Naruto explain the seal to her and how it was basically just a combination of preexisting D rank seals, she was surprised by how simplistic this new seal really was, and after watching the young Hanyou use it to slaughter so many incoming clones Konan was convinced on asking Naruto to teach her how to make the seal for her own use on missions. As she approached the boy she couldn't help but wonder just where the drive to learn fuinjutsu had come from, sure Naruto had shown plenty of interest in the field after she had told him of it, but from what Konan had seen Naruto had seemed obsessed with it for the past several weeks.

"So what did you think of my seal Konan-sensei?" asked a tired Naruto as he got back to his feet, looking over to his sensei who had been watching him this entire time.

"That was very impressive Naruto-kun, I wouldn't mind learning to use that seal myself. Especially after seeing it in action I can tell you certainly have a gift for Fuinjutsu, I've seen others do something similar with explosive tags that also release kunai and shuriken as a form of shrapnel. But I've never even heard of a variant that also ensnares its victims in chains before, and you said the Spellbinding Chains and the Metal Swarm Strike seals were both merely D ranked?" she asked getting a very proud nod from Naruto.

"Yep! I figured after all the years I had watched Hitome and Kakuzu-sensei use explosive notes on people, it'd be nice to have a way for people to not be able to simply dodge them." he beamed giving himself a mental 'pat' on the back.

"That's good Naruto but I'm a little curious about something." Konan replied as she handed Naruto a canteen.

"What would that be?" Naruto asked before taking several large gulps from the canteen.

"Why?"

"Huh? Why what Konan-sensei?" asked a confused Naruto.

"Why are you pushing yourself so hard to learn Fuinjutsu, you've been training yourself into the ground even on the few days that you've had off to relax. So why are you pushing yourself so hard?" she asked her gaze piercing into Naruto.

A shadow formed over Naruto's eyes as he looked down towards the ground not saying anything, the only indication as to what was going on in Naruto's head being his ears which had drooped as far down as they could go. An indication that Konan had soon come to realize meant he was very upset whenever they got that low, as she watched the little Hanyou she saw the slightest of shaking start to build up around his shoulders. Catching the smallest of tears drop down to the ground Konan realized that Naruto was crying, or at least trying to keep from doing so. Looking up his eyes now as big as saucers Konan was able to see twin crimson slitted pools of pain as Naruto tried to wipe away his tears, steadying himself as best he could he spoke.

"Y-You said once*sniffle*...that f-f-fuinjutsu c-could do….anything right?" he asked gaining a nod. "So….do you….do you th-think it could*sniffle*...take back what h-h-happened to me?" he asked as he tried to wipe away his tears with his sleeves, the look in his eyes practically pleading with her to say 'yes'.

For the first time in several years Konan was stunned as she looked down at Naruto, she had no idea how to handle this or what to say. This was obviously what had been driving him since he started taking up fuinjutsu and must mean the world to him, which was why Konan was desperately looking for a way out of her predicament, the last thing she wanted to do was crush a traumatized little eight year old's hopes. After a few moments of frantically thinking to herself she had come up with nothing, resigning herself to her fate she prepared to give Naruto the bad news.

As her features softened she sadly shook her head from side to side, instantly hating herself as she witnessed the absolutely crushed look on Naruto's face. Moving quickly she enveloped him in a soft but firm hug as she kneeled down on one knee, allowing Naruto to bury his face in her cloak and cry as his little arms wrapped around Konan's neck. They stayed there for a solid 20 minutes as Naruto wept, now knowing that there was truly nothing he could do to change or stop what had happened to him. Konan for her own sake was doing everything she could to sooth the poor boy as she tried to remain as calm as she could, she had never expected herself to actually care for the boy. But the frequent contact with him over the last several months had allowed the little Hanyou all that he needed to worm his way into her heart, the fact that he seemed to thirst for her affection and attention seemed to pull at maternal instincts she hadn't been aware that she possessed. As she ran her fingers through Naruto's hair she silently cursed the men who traumatized such a sweet little boy, but most of all she cursed Fugaku for orchestrating all of it.

" _Mark my words you bastard…..you'll get yours Fugaku…"_ Konan thought to herself as she did her best to comfort Naruto. As Konan leaned back from the hug she softly wiped a few remaining tears from Naruto's face, as he seemed to have gotten most of it out of his system by now. Looking him in they eye Konan softly smiled as she continued to run her fingers through his hair and scratch behind his ears, an act that gained an appreciative purr as a peaceful look spread across his face. Slowly closing his eyes Naruto leaned his head against Konan's fingers as they continued to rub his scalp and scratch behind his ears, not paying any mind to the purring that had begun to escape his throat.

"Hey...Naruto-kun…" Konan said softly gaining the young Hanyou's attention, causing him to open his eyes and look up at her. "No one and nothing can change the past or what had happened but…." she said as she bit her lip, trying to word it carefully. "What if you could make it to where something like that never happened again?" she asked gaining a confused look from Naruto.

"Wh-What do you mean Konan-chan?" he asked innocently causing a slight dusting of pink to color her cheeks at the affectionate suffix.

"What I mean is what if you could use your fuinjutsu to make sure that something like what happened to you, never happened to anyone else? You know what it's like to go through something like that and with your fuinjutsu, you might be able to create something that could protect other people from going through that also." Konan explained gaining several nods from Naruto as he listened, his tears long forgotten as his mind started to go into overdrive after finally processing what it was she was saying.

"Like an…..Anti….Rape Seal?" he asked looking back at Konan.

"Yes Naruto-kun, exactly." Konan answered with an honest smile.

"That's a great idea Konan-sensei!" exclaimed Naruto as he hugged Konan around her neck before quickly letting go, rummaging around through his many pockets he began to produce various pieces of sealing equipment. "Thanks Konan-sensei you're a genious! I'll get started right away!" he said very excitedly as he scampered off, leaving a very bemused Konan.

" _Well….he certainly bounced back…"_ Konan thought with a slight sweatdrop. " _Maybe this will give him all that he needs to finally move on, I hope so at least."_ she thought sadly as she got back up with a sigh before heading off.

Meanwhile with Naruto, the young Hanyou was having a very interesting conversation with his demoness as he quickly found a quiet spot by the river to work in peace. Having spent the last several minutes already explaining to Kurama how his day had gone and the talk he had with Konan, he had just finished telling her what it was he was trying to do.

" _That's an amazing idea Naruto-kun, such a seal would be helping millions of people around the world!"_ exclaimed the demoness, who while she definitely didn't trust Konan was still very appreciative of her efforts to help her favorite Hanyou out.

" _I know right?! And hey who knows maybe one day I'll find a way to free you too!"_ Naruto thought happily as he briefly imagined Kurama dancing around after finally being free, having set that image firmly in his mind he came to a decision. " _You know what? Yeah….I'm going to set you free Kurama-chan…... believe it!"_ he told her as he got to work with writing down ideas for how his Anti-Rape Seal would work and what it would do.

Engrossed in his work he didn't pay Kurama any mind as he started writing, the demoness however had gone quiet after hearing Naruto's proclamation. " _Naruto-kun…"_ Kurama thought to herself as she silently watched the young boy, having lost the ability to speak hearing what he had said. Naruto may not have realized it at the time, but he had touched on the one thing she truly desired above all else, freedom. Clutching the locket around her neck she blinked back a few stray tears as she watched Naruto from inside her seal, she knew there was no way she would ever get out. She had spent the last several years glaring at the seal she was trapped in, the only way for her freedom to be realised came at a price…..death.

In a large cave

There was a loud _crack_ followed by a blinding flash of light that illuminated the cave, as the light died out there stood the two Akatsuki members who both immediately began to wretch and throw up on the ground. For the next several minutes the cave they were in was filled with the sounds of their puking, as it finally died down they were both able to speak again.

"Jashin…*cough*... _dammit_ Kakuzu! You could've…*caugh*...warned me about this!" Hitome screamed between coughs, having finally finished emptying her stomach all over the stone floor.

"I haven't…*caugh*...been here in over…*caugh caugh*... 40 years!" Kakuzu replied as he stood back up, reaching into the inner pockets of his cloak he took out a small canteen. Popping the lid he took a large swig from it to wash out his mouth before passing it to Hitome, who likewise did the same prompting them to pass it back and forth for a few minutes. "I forgot who intense the strain can be on the body for non-Uzumaki's, the first time I was ever came down here it took me much longer to get over the effects." Kakuzu said as he straightened up, looking over at his partner he noticed she was ready to continue as well. "Come on Hitome and stick close."

As they walked through the cave in silence Hitome began to look all around her as she saw dozens of large crystals growing out of the the walls and ceiling, as they continued onward she looked forward to see the end of the cave leading into a large stone archway. As they got closer she noticed that there was an eerie glow coming from within the passageway, coming up to it Hitome could see perfectly carved steps right into the stone floor leading down towards what she could only assume was the source of the glow. Continuing down the winding stairs the glow seemed to become brighter, after several long minutes they finally reached the end of the stairs and stepped out onto a large stone platform. The sight that Hitome and Kakuzu came upon left the normally loud woman speechless, looking out from the platform they were on she could see a massive underground chamber. The chamber stretched as far as her eyes could see and had what appeared to be hundreds of massive stone columns, that stretched all the way up from the floor to the ceiling which she could barely make out. The columns were all spread out in an almost grid like pattern and appeared to all be roughly one hundred feet around, but that wasn't had left the woman speechless. Looking out all around her she could see gold, literal mountains of gold piled high like a rolling golden sea throughout the entire chamber. Growing out of the floor, the walls and ceilings were some of the largest and most beautiful crystals that she had ever seen. As Hitome took in the sight before her her mind came to a screeching halt as she tried to process what she was seeing, it was just too much!

As she slowly but surely came to terms with what she was seeing, she heard a voice cut through the air. "Gold…" came a gravelly voice which Hitome identified as Kakuzu's, looking over the edge of the platform she saw him walking amongst the piles of wealth. "Gold, more wealth here then most of the 5 Great Nations, enough wealth to buy entire countries. Enough to give birth to enough greed throughout the world to tempt half of the other nations to invade…." he said as he looked up at Hitome before throwing a large rock at her. Catching it on pure instinct she inspected what she had caught, to her amazement it was a sapphire that was easily three times the size of her fist. After she had finished looking the sapphire over she looked back down to Kakuzu, raising his hands up in invitation he spoke. "Welcome to the Treasure Hoard of Uzushiogakure…"

Lowering his hands back down to his sides Kakuzu turned around and started walking, as Hitome's brain rebooted she quickly shunshinned next to him. Falling in step with her partner Hitome continued to cast glances all around her, and most importantly at her partner. After getting over her initial shock she noticed Kakuzu's calm disinterest as he walked, as she thought of this she once again began to wonder just who her partner really was. After almost an hour they finally came to the end of the chamber, where the found another archway with a wide hallway leading to another chamber. As they walked through the spacious hallway Hitome couldn't help but speak up, "Soooo Ero-Musha, just what the hell are we doing here?" she asked hoping to at least get a rise out of her partner.

"Retrieving some a few family heirlooms for Naruto." Kakuzu answered simply causing a tick mark to appear on Hitome's forhead.

"Grrrrr I know that you jackass! What I mean is what the _fuck_ are we doing here and where are we even going!?" Hitome snapped.

"Shhhh…..we're in a library, there's no need to shout." Kakuzu said with a rare bit of humor as they stepped into yet another large room.

"What the fuck are you...talking...about?...Ok where are we now?" Hitome asked in exasperation.

"Welcome to the Uzumaki Clan Library, where they stored all of their knowledge on literally every single topic or study of the world." Kakuzu answered as they pressed on into the large room, this one while it wasn't anywhere near as large as the treasure chamber it was still a massive library. Containing hundreds of and hundreds of shelves that were all labeled and categorized, each being 25 feet tall and 50 feet long, and containing many volumes and scrolls alike.

"Wow…..I know I'm not much of one for reading but even I can appreciate this place for what it is." said a fairly impressed Hitome. "Sooooo they really have stuff here on _everything_?" she asked still rather skeptical over Kakuzu's previous claim.

"Yes…. _everything._ The Uzumaki were a people of extremes who never did anything by conventional means, 'thinking inside of the box' was as much of a foreign concept to them as a bear trying to explain to a fish why it's knees hurt. Why build a staircase inside of your house when you could simply rig stone pads with seals that warp the fabric of spacetime around you, allowing you to get from one floor of your house to the next. To the Uzumaki shit like _that_ made a hell of a lot more sense than just putting in a stairwell, which also led to their obsessive thirst for knowledge. The more that they learned the more they absolutely needed to know… honestly if there was one clan that could actually learn all there ever was or ever will be about the universe it was the Uzumaki." Kakuzu explained to a gobsmacked Hitome as they exited the library into another stone hallway. "To be honest with the amount of time that they spent training and studying the effects of manipulating space and gravity, I'm surprised they were ever able to procreate. Let alone to the sheer degree that they did." commented Kakuzu as they continued on into another chamber, this one clearly a large armory.

This caught Hitome's attention causing her to tear her eyes away from all of the weapons and armor that were neatly on display, all of which was giving her a case of 'ladywood' due to the sheer level of craftsmanship, she had never seen an armory as impressive as this! "What do you mean Kakuzu?" she asked genuinely curious as they continued onward, this actually gaining a chuckle from from the normally stoic Kakuzu.

"They were easily the largest, raunchiest group of super perverts I had _ever met in my entire life._ " said Kakuzu as his chuckle soon turned into full blown laughter, something that Hitome had honestly never thought was even possible. "You've heard of Jaraiya of the Sannin I take it?" he asked gaining a dull look from Hitome.

"Tch of course I've heard of that idiot! He's only the world's most famous pervert alive, hell he even writes that Icha Icha franchise which is a world best seller!" answered Hitome.

"Hmmmm you seem to know a lot about him."

"Well what can I say I'm a fan of his work!" chirped Hitome.

"Well anyways…...to be blunt the Uzumaki Clan put him to shame on almost every level, with the exceptions of rape, bestiality and necrophilia there weren't a lot of things they weren't into." Kakuzu explained surprising Hitome once again. "You know the Shodai Hokage's wife was an Uzumaki by the name of Mito…...let's just say Hashirama was easily the luckiest man on the planet in terms of getting a wife."

"Really? That good in the sack huh?" Hitome asked.

"Most likely yes if she was anything like her clansmen…..gah…..how the hell did we even get to talking about this?" asked Kakuzu as they made their way into the final chamber.

"Hey I was just listening to you the entire time, you brought it up?" Hitome responded.

"Hmm be that as it may it doesn't matter now, we're here." said Kakuzu as they walked into a much smaller room. There not much else besides a few stands that held glowing crystals to provide light, and on the opposite end was an incredibly large door with what appeared to be the most intricate designs on it that either of them had ever seen. Walking over to the door Kakuzu stood and inspected it, nodding to himself he once again took out the phial of Naruto's blood before he smeared it across the surface of the door.

"Kakuzu what is this?" asked Hitome who was quite frankly a little nervous after all the things she had learned about Naruto's clan, she wasn't all too keen to go into some place that the Uzumaki had obviously gone to great lengths to keep everyone out.

There was a pregnant silence as the seals on the door began to glow with a soft pale blue light, as gears slowly began to move from within the door. "This Hitome…." Kakuzu said as the massive door slowly began to swing open on hidden hinges. "...is the Uzumaki Clan Vault where they have kept their most prized and powerful possessions and secrets. Now let's get what we came here for already and get out of here." Without another word Kakuzu strode into the chamber with Hitome right on his heels, upon entering the chamber it was merely the size of a regular sized room. Surrounding the them were several tall lanterns that held more glowing crystals, at the end of the vault were three large stone pedestals. The center pedestal held three beautiful katanas the likes of which Hitome had never seen, they were all elegant and intricately designed and crafted.

All three of the swords appeared to be the exact same length possessing the same slight curvature from what Hitome could tell, and while they all came in beautiful black lacquered scabbards that was where the similarities ended. The top sword had its handle covered in black ray skin and was wrapped in an almost glowing white cloth, giving the appearance of a beautiful black diamond pattern along the handle. Both the circular tsuba handguard and the pommel endcap were made of a glowing metal that gave off a silvery blue glow, though what type of metal it was Hitome couldn't tell. The second sword in the middle was just as beautiful, its handle was covered in a black ray skin also but possessed a cloth wrapping that was a very deep shade of red. Both the handguard and endcaps seemed to be made out of the same material as the first sword, even possessing the same silvery blue glow. The final sword however was completely different from its counterparts, its handle was bare lacking both a ray skin and cloth wrap. The handle was made from some type of incredibly dark mahogany wood, which ended in a large three fingered claw which held a large jewel for a pommel. The jewel was a dark purple that softly glowed, the largest difference however was its handguard. Instead of a more traditional tsuba handguard like the first two swords, this was made out of a dark metal that seemed to suck in the light around it. And was instead in the shape of a large demon's head with the blade coming out of its fanged mouth, where its eyes should be we're two glowing blood red rubies. To say that Hitome was surprised at the level of craftsmanship that was painstakingly put into each of the swords was an understatement, her being a weapon user she could easily appreciate the fact that they were all one of a kind.

Moving on to the pedestal on the right she saw a VERY large scroll, one that appeared to have the same level of detail as even the katanas! The scroll was easily 4 ft. long from endcap to endcap, and was was about 2 ft. In diameter. The scroll was a deep blue with ocean waves, massive maelstroms, and lightning depicted all over the cover, while the endcaps were a beautiful gold with dragons etched and carved into them. All in all it reminded Hitome of the forbidden scrolls that all of the shinobi villages keep, only this one appeared to be rather ancient due to its designs. Looking over to the other pedestal on the left she saw a very beautiful double bladed polearm, and just below it was a small sealed up scroll. The blades of the polearm were both 4 ft. in length giving it an impressive reach, with the haft of the weapon 3 ft in length allowing for proper control. The blades were made of a silvery blue metal that gave a faint white glow, being rather thick they were very wide at the base of the blade before tapering to very sharp points. With very archaic designs etched into the sides of the blades the massive weapon was equally as impressive as the katanas, looking over to her partner she saw how he had apparently been staring at her the entire time which caused a faint blush to dust her cheeks.

Quickly shaking her head she opened up her mouth to ask about the significance of the items in the vault, but was interrupted by Kakuzu. "The scroll on the end is the Uzumaki Scroll of the Forbidden, containing all of their knowledge. From their Ninjutsu to their Fuinjutsu as well as all of their most powerful and forbidden jutsus, as well as all of the combined knowledge that currently resides within the Great Library which you just saw. Their goal in crafting it was to ensure that if anything were to ever happen to them that all of their vast knowledge and hard work would not be lost, but would instead be preserved for surviving future generations." he said having already guessed what she was going to say.

Scowling Hitome rolled her eyes while muttering to herself, "Ass." Looking back to her partner, "So what about those swords? I've only ever heard of swords of that quality and the only other one I've ever seen was Orochimaru's Kusanagi." she said as she quirked an eyebrow.

"Those are the ancestral swords of the Uzumaki Clan and are past down from one Clan Head to another, a tradition which they kept to for several thousand years. To the point where the clan created an entire sword style based off of using three swords at once, which they named Santoryu - The Three Sword Style." answered Kakuzu as he walked over to the pedestals and removed the large scroll, slowly opening it he gently rolled it open on the floor just enough to reveal a sealing matrix. Standing back up he looked over to his partner before continuing on with his explanation, "Their names are Tsukihime, Onihime and Ryuk. I'm not going to go too much into any of their abilities right now since I'm just going to have to repeat all of it when we present them to Naruto, and I don't feel like repeating myself." he stated as he walked over and promptly removed all three swords from their pedestal, where he then went back to the large scroll on the ground and sealed them within the sealing matrix that was showing.

"Kakuzu…"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"What about the other one on the end?" asked Hitome as she cast a very curious eye on the weapon and most of all her partner.

"That I have never seen before…." he said looking back towards the admittedly massive weapon. Walking over to it Kakuzu spent a few minutes studying the weapon, before he picked up the small scroll that lay before it. Opening it up he slowly began to read it, as he did Hitome watched as he quickly stiffened. Curious she watched as several different emotions flashed across Kakuzu's face, from shock and surprise, to absolute grief. As he continued to read from the scroll Hitome saw how his expression took a very serene appearance, but what shocked her the most was when tears briefly fell down his cheeks. Knowing how rare it generally is for Kakuzu to show any emotions at all, Hitome quickly decided to stay quiet and allow her partner to have his moment in peace.

After several minutes of reading Kakuzu finally looked up from the scroll, quickly wiping his cheeks Kakuzu cleared his throat before speaking. "The weapon is called Silverlight…..and it belongs to me." he said as he looked at Hitome, rolling up the small scroll he he quickly stashed it within one of his cloaks inner pockets. Turning back he gently removed Silverlight from its pedestal with both hands, holding it out in front of him the same way one might remove a katana from a sword stand. "It's so warm…..and light…" he said to himself as he held the weapon, turning it around in his hands he went through a few brief katas to test its balance before settling back in a relaxed stance. Calling forth some threads from his arm he made a makeshift rope which he then used to keep Silverlight slung across his back next to the scroll, after a minute or two of adjusting he promptly turned around and headed back through the massive vault door.

After they were both out of the vault the door closed and locked itself behind them, Kakuzu not even bothering to look behind him kept on walking as he led them back through the massive series of underground chambers. After some time they finally made it back to the platform where they had initially arrived, after pulling out his water bottle Kakuzu handed it to Hitome before going through the same hand seals as before. Slamming his hand on the platform the seals glowed brightly before with another loud * _CRACK*_ , they were gone only to instantly appear back in the Uzukage office. After they were able to get ahold of themselves and stop puking, they then went ahead and left going back out the way they had came. Heading down and out the main entrance to the tower Kakuzu led Hitome through the ruins of the village, Hitome could tell that they had been gone for a while since the sun was starting to set. After some time they came to a large gate that was miraculously still standing and had the symbol of Uzu on the front of it, splashing the last of Naruto's blood across the gate the symbol glowed briefly before the gate opened. Pressing forward Kakuzu led Hitome through what was obviously a very large clan compound, which led her to suspect just which clan compound they were in. After several minutes of walking the came to a still standing and intact house that appeared some what run down due to the beating time had given it, after Kakuzu opened up the door and entered Hitome was surprised to see how generally clean the inside was. Despite the obvious decades that the house had endured the inside was actually very clean, looking around her she could see that the house had a very serene and peaceful feel to it. Taking off her shoes she started to walk around the main floor of the house, Kakuzu having already disappeared upstairs somewhere, as she looked around she was able to detect traces of a 'woman's touch' here and there.

As she made her way into the living room she saw that it was very spacious allowing for many people to relax in comfort at anytime, she even noticed a fairly large fireplace with a mantle above it. Walking over she saw there were many pictures of of people who all had varying shades of red and dark orange hair, Kakuzu was also there in most of them. As she looked closer at the pictures she also took note of the fact that he was actually smiling along with the other people there, as she inspected each one she eventually came to one near the middle which was a picture of a beautiful woman. She appeared to be in her late twenties possessing a beautiful face and complexion, with high cheekbones and naturally colored cheeks she was a real looker. She had very soft deep green eyes that seemed to look through you, with a very elegant nose that rested above a pair of very soft looking lips that were pulled back into a small smile. She had very long blood red hair that softly framed the sides of her face and fell down her back, around her slim neck was a small necklace that held a small locket that rested just below here collarbone. She wore a soft baby blue shirt with a V neck cut just low enough to hint at her large cleavage and still remain classy, as Hitome looked at this woman she couldn't help but notice the beginnings of pregnancy that were starting to show with the slight bump in her belly.

Before Hitome could look at any other pictures however she was quickly brought back to reality when she heard the clearing of a throat, whipping around she saw Kakuzu who was standing at the entrance of the living room who appeared to be holding a small bundle of clothes. Walking over to her he handed her the clothes while spoke, "I believe these should fit you for now, the water still works so you can go take a shower. I'll be in after you, otherwise I'll be in the kitchen getting dinner started. We're going to be here for a few days due to the storm that's coming so you might as well make yourself comfortable." he said as he walked off into another room. As Hitome stared after him she heard his voice come from inside of what she could only assume was the kitchen, "Master Bathroom is up the stairs first door on your left, chop chop." gaining an annoyed tick mark from Hitome. _"It appears that even in his own house he's still an asshole…."_ she thought as she looked back at the clothes that were handed to her, they weren't just a woman's clothes, these belonged to somebody. With that thought in mind she headed upstairs to where the bathroom was, finding the door already open she walked in to find a very nicely put together bathroom with a very large shower area that was right next to an even larger bath tub. Setting her things down on the marble counter she quickly stripped and turned on the water, which she was pleasantly surprised to notice got hot very quickly. Stepping in Hitome couldn't help the relaxed moan that escaped her as the hot water washed away her weariness from the last few weeks, especially given how they had to get through a storm to arrive on the island she was more tired than she had realised. As she slowly cleaned herself off she began to think about everything that she had learned and seen today, as she worked some shampoo into her scalp she thought about how Kakuzu had been acting as they had walked through the ruins. And how he seemed to know so much about this village, she now knew for certain as she cleaned her body off that at some point Kakuzu had lived here. Given how she was using what must be his shower in _his house_ Hitome figured that he must have gotten in close with the Uzumaki, and even lived with them. As she started to add everything that she had seen she came to realize that the only way that Kakuzu would have even known about the existence of those underground chambers, let alone how to get into them is if one of the Uzumaki had shown him. Turning off the water Hitome stepped out and quickly toweled off, after making sure she was dry she walked over and inspected the clothes. It was a very comfortable Kimono that was a very deep purple in color, putting it on she felt how it caressed her skin in just the right ways. Looking around she saw a small hamper which she promptly tossed everything she had been wearing into before leaving, as she stepped out into the hallway however she saw that the door to the room in front of her was cracked open. Curious she opened it up and walked in to find herself in what had to be the Master Bedroom, looking around she saw a very large bed that looked like it must feel like a dream to lay on. On either sides near the headboard were some medium sized night stands that each had some pictures, walking over she picked one up to see something that surprised her greatly. There standing in one of the most beautiful wedding dresses she had ever seen was the same woman from the picture on the mantlepiece above the fireplace. But what was really shocking was to see Kakuzu who was standing next to her, he was wearing a very formal but immaculate looking Kimono. He didn't have his glasgow smile in this picture and he appeared to have done his hair up so that he looked as presentable as he possibly could. Both he and this woman were standing next to one another with their arms interlocked and their hands clasped together, and both of them appeared to have the happiest smiles on their faces of their lives. Putting down the picture she noticed the other picture right next to it which had them there as well, only now the woman's belly was now heavily swollen with pregnancy and she was glowing with how happy she looked. She was looking up at Kakuzu with large smile as she had her hand over his which was placed on her pregnant stomach, as Hitome stared at this picture she attempted to compare the Kakuzu that she had known for the last several years with the man in the picture and failed.

Putting the photo down she headed back into the hallway closing the door as she went, after heading back downstairs her nose is assaulted by the smell of something delicious coming from the kitchen. Walking in she sees a large pot cooking over the stove with a shirtless Kakuzu standing next to it slowly adding ingredients, now Hitome had seen Kakuzu shirtless plenty of times in the past. But then it had always been during a fight and given recent events, she had begun to see an entire new side to the normally reserved man which was why she couldn't help but begin to see her partner in an entirely new light.

Shaking her head Hitome clears her throat causing Kakuzu to look over at her, looking her up and down briefly he then goes back to what he was doing. "You look good in that." he said as he stirred the broth of whatever it was he was making, still not taking his eyes away from the task at hand he continued to speak. "If I had to guess I'd say you have more than a few questions after today don't you?" he asked matter of factly.

"Tch, a few questions?" Hitome asked incredulously. "Kakuzu after today I don't even know who you are! I've known you for the last six years and I've never seen you show any other emotion besides anger, which I'm still convinced is your default emotion! Everyone in the Akatsuki has been busting their asses to build up funds for our plans, and all this time you _knew_ that there was a treasure trove out here large enough to literally BUY half of the continent. And to top it all off you have some connection to Naruto's clan?!" Hitome screamed as she vented all of her frustrations out, catching her breath she steadied herself before looking back at Kakuzu. "Well?" she asked fully expecting an answer or some type of explanation.

Looking her up and down for a few minutes Kakuzu couldn't help but remember a time when another woman would wring him out like that, despite his best efforts he had to admit it was a welcome feeling that he had missed. _"I've put this off for far too long…."_ Kakuzu thought to himself. _"I suppose it's time, if nothing else it'll keep me from going insane and who knows….maybe it'll help Naruto in the long run…."_

"If you want answers then you'll have them, I suppose I do owe you that much at least after today. But you're going to have to wait till after I've showered and we've had a chance to eat, I know I'm just as hungry as you." he said and almost on cue Hitome's stomach growled loudly, causing the woman to blush and hold her stomach.

"Tch fine" she growled as she took over watching the food, which she was surprised to discover was seafood ramen.

As she watched over the ramen Hitome thought about everything she had seen today, now that she had had a shower and a real chance to relax she was able to think clearly. She knew now that those people in the photos must have been the Uzumaki clan, and judging from the photos she had seen Kakuzu must have married into the clan if that wedding photo was anything to go by. Deciding to simply wait she went back to keeping an eye on the ramen, she'd get her answers sooner or later. It wasn't long till Kakuzu came back down the stairs wearing some black pants and a blue haori shirt, without wasting time they both sat down and ate in silence. Despite their relaxed states there was an obvious tension at the table as they both ate, Hitome for herself had found it curious as to why Kakuzu had even made ramen of all things til she took a bite. Hitome widened her eyes as she tasted the food, it was easily the most heavenly dish she had ever tasted, which led to her gobbling up her ramen before going for a second, and a third….and a fourth bowl. When she was finally finished she looked up to see trace amounts of amusement on Kakuzu's face, as well as two empty bowls stacked in front of him.

"What?"

"Hmpf nothing, so are you done or what?" Kakuzu asked as he stood up to collect the dishes, not really giving Hitome a chance to answer. After placing the dishes in the sink Kakuzu practically stalked back over to the table, placing a very large bottle of saki and some drinking saucers down he took a seat across from Hitome.

"We're going to be here a while aren't we?" Hitome asked dryly as she poured herself and Kakuzu some saki.

"Yeah." Kakuzu said with a sigh as he downed the contents of his saucer. "Ahhhh still as good as I remember it."

"Mmmmm this is some good stuff who made it?" Hitome asked.

"My brother-in-law did…..he always had a knack for brewing spirits." answered Kakuzu gaining a raised eyebrow from Hitome, looking over at her Kakuzu downed some more saki before speaking. "I'm 78 years old." Kakuzu began as he poured himself some more saki. "I still remember the times when I was Naruto's age, and how my parents would teach and train me. How they would make me run into the woods to try and keep from being caught by them for as long as possible, only to turn around and have to hunt _them_ after I had been caught. All to improve my hunting and stealth abilities." Kakuzu said as he stared into his saki, taking a breath he began to tell his story.

 _Flashback Story_

 _Kakuzu was born the son of working class hunters and fur traders, he had grown up in Waterfall Country constantly on the move. His mother and father had decided to expose him to their lifestyle early on by having him help field dress and skin their kills at an early age, all the while teaching him all that they could. As he started to get older they began to take him with them on their hunts so that he could learn how to stalk prey, this led to them spending most of their time in the wilderness where Kakuzu absorbed all that they had to teach him like a sponge. By the age of eight Kakuzu had already made his first kill and was fast becoming nearly impossible for his parents to find whenever he would hide from them, everything that he knew about his life would soon come to an end however. Not too long after he turned nine his family was approached by the shinobi commanders, they were told that due to the recent events between the warring clans that Takigakure needed to instate a country wide draft. They were to report to an outpost near Takigakure where Kakuzu would then be taken into the Shinobi Corps, the parents were to come along as well due to their past shinobi training. It was there at the academy in Taki that it was soon discovered that Kakuzu was an apparent prodigy, thanks to his upbringing his stealth and tracking abilities were on par with most of the Chunin. Kakuzu took to the training without any problems quickly absorbing everything that the instructors were teaching him, his success within the academy quickly began to catch the attention of the higher ups who then began to put him through grueling tests._

 _The results were the discovery of his near perfect chakra control, his natural affinities for Suiton, Katon and Doton, as well as his skill in Taijutsu, where he showed the ability learn and become proficient in multiple styles of hand to hand combat. As time in the Academy went on it became quickly apparent that Kakuzu would end up graduating early seeing how he was excelling in all of the shinobi arts that were being taught, which caused the instructors to pour entire volumes of jutsu theory and tactics into him. By the age of eleven Kakuzu's skill had risen to the point where he was hailed as a prodigy who excelled in all of the shinobi arts, and was a genius when it came to Ninjutsu. Having spent almost every waking moment over the past few years studying and training, Kakuzu had graduated years ahead of his classmates and joined the ranks of the Shinobi Corps. After six months of being a Genin Kakuzu had earned a field promotion after he had helped track down a band of Nukenin, which was were he also made his first kill. From then on Kakuzu devoted his time to spending time with his parents or training whenever he had free time, which had increased his knowledge of the Shinobi Arts even further. As the years slowly moved on Kakuzu began to take on more and more missions with his parents where he gained more experience and became a far more proficient shinobi, he had also began to learn multiple weapons besides the basic kunai, shuriken and senbon needles. After he had received his promotion to Chunin his parents had celebrated by gifting him with a large Kusarigama, this had led to him using the weapon whenever he could so as to gain more skill with it as well as learning how to effectively wield several other weapons._

 _By the age of 15 Kakuzu had impressed even the Shinobi Elders to the point where he was invited into the ANBU Special Black Ops, it was there that his skills as a hunter truly began to shine as he was able to find and eliminate all of his targets with ease. For the next several years Kakuzu enjoyed the time of his life as he continued to grow in skill and power, and was particularly thrilled when his parents gave him the wonderful news that he would have a little sister soon. A fact that pleased him greatly as he treasured his family more than anything else, and so had begun to truly delve into his work so as to increase the strength of the village for his little sister. He started by pioneering many different projects over multiple fields which led to him creating some of the deadliest poisons known to man as well as creating the concept of 'Hard Water'. A variation of Suiton Ninjutsu that gave birth to well over a dozen different weapon based Suiton ninjutsus, from being able to create senbon needles, shuriken and kunai, to Fuuma Shuriken and swords that could stand up to even Zanbatous. By the age of 19 Kakuzu had become the ANBU Commander and answered only to the Takikage and the Shinobi Elders, and due to his past success in creating jutsu was granted the privilege of experimenting with the Hero's Water by the Takikage himself. From the point on Kakuzu had taken to experimenting with the Hero's Water on himself, taking everything that his village knew about the powerful elixir he had discovered that one could safely use the elixir to drastically increase one's chakra reserves. All one had to do was train themselves into the ground all day, and then before going to sleep ingest only a drop of the water allowing its effects to not only refill and revitalize your chakra coils, but also to forcibly expand them though the process would leave the person unconscious till morning. He had even discovered a way to use the elixir to increase the actual potency of a person's chakra through prolonged exposure, meaning over a period of at least 3 years would one experience this anomaly._

 _After three years of performing his duties and ongoing experimentation with the Hero's Water, Kakuzu had finally presented his findings to the Takikage and the Shinobi Elders. To say they were floored by his findings would be an understatement, as he told them of his discoveries he even revealed how he had increased his chakra reserves to ten times their original size over the past 3 years. And how the potential for his chakra to become more potent if he continued with his research was high, by the end of his report he had convinced them as well as the council to of many things. He had gotten them to agree to a curriculum that he had outlined that all of their Elite Jounin and ANBU could follow, allowing them to increase their chakra reserves in the most efficient time possible. He had been given the green light to experiment more with the Hero's Water to try and use it as a weapon, the best part had come from the Takikage who had congratulated Kakuzu and given him a his personal tanto as a gift. The blade would spend many years at Kakuzu's hip serving as his badge of office as he performed his duties, the next eight years would see many changes._

 _As the years passed Taki's shinobi began to become more and more powerful due to Kakuzu's efforts, which was a blessing due to the wars that had picked up across the countries. Something that had caused them to take to the borders more and more, and unfortunately led to his parents both being crippled in the line of duty. But despite that setback Kakuzu had pressed on as he continued to grow in power, his chakra reserves had begun to become truly massive as he continued to train and perfect the Hero's Water. As the wars began to come to a head throughout the lands the Taki shinobi began to face more and more invading forces from Earth Country, Grass Country, and Fire Country, a fact that kept Kakuzu away from his parents and little sister Kikyo and worried him greatly. Before long word had gotten around the elemental nations about an elite force of shinobi that was protecting Waterfall Country, slaughtering all invaders who dared come looking for trouble. This led to more than a few conflicts with some of the shinobi clans such as the Ryotenbin and the Uchiha clans of Earth and Fire Country, especially when Kakuzu had faced off against Izuna Uchiha the younger brother of Madara Uchiha and nearly killed him. It was only the ongoing war between the Senju and Uchiha clan that kept Madara from marching on Waterfall Country after that incident, Taki still prepared as best as it could for anything as they did their utmost best to keep the existence of Takigakure a secret._

 _After eight long years Kakuzu was now 30 and had already been named the Guardian of Waterfall Country, and as such was second in command of all of Takigakure's shinobi forces. He had accomplished many things in his life since became a shinobi, and he would only grow in power as the years progressed. He had revolutionized many of the means in which Elemental Ninjutsu was wielded, he had developed poisons that were easily on par with anything that Sunagakure had at the time. He had even found a way to use the Hero's Water as a poison that attacked the chakra system, corrupting the victim's chakra so that their own chakra was used to kill them. Kakuzu had by now mastered several different Taijutsu and Bukijutsu styles, as well as mastering well over a dozen weapons. One of his most crowning achievements had been his mastery over all of the nature elements, having taken them to the point where he could use them all simultaneously. His chakra reserves had become absolutely massive due to years of training and exposure to the Hero's Water, which had eventually led to his chakra warping as he had predicted it would becoming far more potent than a regular person's. He had discovered that while from that point on certain arts such as Genjutsu and Iryojutsu or Medical Ninjutsu would be inaccessible due to the nature of his chakra, he could still use it to create many different chakra based constructs. Ranging from being elemental based golems of massive sizes to weapons, tools and even barriers made purely from his chakra. Kakuzu had gotten a great laugh out of his Takikage when he had first revealed the ability during a spar of theirs, he had found the look on the aged leaders face priceless when he had to dodge attacks from a scythe made out of violet purplish energy. To say that the man had been floored by Kakuzu's explanation afterward was an understatement, as they talked Kakuzu received the news that would change his life forever as the man he respected as much as his own father named him his successor as the next Takikage._

 _From that point on Kakuzu had begun to work alongside his leader as he tried to learn everything he would need to know for when he eventually took up the mantle of Takikage, in this time Kakuzu felt like he had been floating on cloud nine as he prepared to take over as leader. Fate however appeared to have other plans as the Shinobi Elders announced news of the creation of Konohagakure, the first Hidden Village. As well as the apparent alliance between the Senju and the Uchiha clans and the how most of the other surrounding clans within Fire Country had joined with the village, the ensuing council meeting was very long and full of arguments. Some wanted to join Konoha in an alliance to secure ties to the clans that largely made up Konoha, such as the Senju, Uchiha, Hyuuga and Sarutobi clans. While another large portion didn't want to risk Taki's safety by announcing its existence to the world, seeing how no one knew about the village let alone how to find it. The rest however including Kakuzu, the Takikage and the Shinobi Elders were on the fence about it all, it wasn't until over a year later that the Shinobi Elders approached the Takikage and Kakuzu. Everyone had heard of Madara's self imposed exile by now and the elders had come up with a plan to announce Taki's existence, while at the same time displaying a formidable show of power. Their plan was for them to kill Hashirama Senju the Shodai Hokage, and since Kakuzu was next in line to rule the village as Takikage it would fall to him to do the deed._

 _Flashback story break_

"Wait hold on a minute!" exclaimed Hitome.

"What is it?" Kakuzu asked with no small amount of irritation.

"What the fuck made them think any of that was a good idea!?" she asked incredulously.

"The political landscape at that time was much different from what it is today." Kakuzu answered with a sigh as he downed some more saki. "No one had ever even dreamed of a shinobi village like Konoha before, sure Taki had already been around for a few decades but was nothing like what it is today. It was more loosely held together by the Waterfall Daimyo and ran by the most powerful shinobi around, hell the Shinobi Elders were all old retired veterans assigned to advise the Takikage. And soon after Konoha was founded other Hidden Villages started to sprout up throughout the continent, and it was all because of Konoha. Konoha was a massive village that was easily the size of the capitol of Fire Country, and within its walls were all of the shinobi clans from around surrounding areas. Nothing had ever produced that much of a threat before, so most of the other villages banded together out of fear of what the combined might of Konoha could do." Kakuzu said as he poured some more saki for himself. "Now shush! And let me continue with my story."

 _Flashback Story Continued_

 _Kakuzu and the Takikage had much skepticism over what the elders were saying but in the end they both relented against their better judgement, after hearing the Elders reasons Kakuzu got to work. He began by doing as much research as he could on Hashirama as well as sending scouting teams into Fire Country to gather intel on the landscape as well as movements of the shinobi, as he began to formulate his plan began to come up with as many contingencies as he possibly could. He began to come up with as many different theories as to how to overcome the Shodai's Mokuton as well as several means of disabling his target, which led to him planning on taking everything he possibly could with him. Kakuzu knew that Hashirama possessed incredibly powerful reserves of chakra like himself and that the Shodai was also the holder of the Slug Contract, which made Kakuzu cautious as he tried to plan around that little fact as best as he could. All in all Kakuzu had spent a total of four months preparing before he left to face the Shodai, having taken all of the intel that his best ANBU teams had gathered Kakuzu was able to discover the perfect place to set his traps. And by a stroke of luck he had discovered that he would be able to catch the Shodai off guard while he traveled around Fire Country inspecting all of the new outposts that were being erected, his plan went off flawlessly. He had been able to separate the Shodai from his escorts and had kept the man on his heels for quite a while, even being able to land several blows on him where Kakuzu was able to poison Hashirama. Before long there came a lull in the fight where they broke off and addressed each other before rushing one another, from there the fight took off in earnest._

 _The resulting battle that took place between the two taught Kakuzu many things, in terms of Taijutsu and Bukijutsu Kakuzu had the Shodai beat out right. Their mastery over the elements were both on par with one another, which surprised Hashirama a great deal when Kakuzu began using his Elemental Golems to counter all of his attacks. Which led to Kakuzu discovering that his hypothesis that Mokuton would have a slight weakness to large amounts of Raiton was indeed correct, especially when he would chain his Suiton and Raiton golems' attacks together. Which would break up the internal strength and integrity of Hashirama's creations enough to be destroyed or at the very least for one of his other golems to mop up._

 _Kakuzu had even surprised the Shodai a great deal when they engaged in close combat and Kakuzu held the supreme advantage thanks to his ability to manifest his unique chakra outside his body, which had allowed him to poison Hashirama multiple times with swipes from one energy based weapon or another. After that the poisons that Kakuzu had used on the Shodai began to take their toll quickly which led to him almost getting killed several times as he tried to gain some distance between them, after which Kakuzu explained how the poisons all targeted either the chakra system of the victim or their chakra itself burning them from the inside out. Unfortunately for Kakuzu things quickly stagnated as they found themselves to be in a stalemate, where he was in for a very nasty surprise as it turned out that Hashirama in fact almost as skilled at Iryojutsu as he was in Ninjutsu. Using his Mokuton to keep Kakuzu at bay he summoned a slug to aid him as he removed all of Kakuzu's poisons from his system, before kneeling down on a large tree branch that was constantly moving around the battlefield. Curious Kakuzu watched as markings quickly began to appear on Hashirama's face as he noted a massive increase in the Shodai's chakra output, Kakuzu could do nothing but stand in shock as the Shodai performed a technique that he had only heard about in all of his studies._

 _The Shodai Hokage had gathered Nature Energy into his body and had harnessed it, Hashirama Senju was a Sage who had activated Sage Mode. Before Kakuzu could mount any type of attack Hashirama's eyes flew open as he clasped his hands together before calling out, "Senpo: Mokuton: True Several Thousand Hands!". Before Kakuzu sprung up a colossal wooden statue of a seated Buddha with thousands of hands sprouting from its back in concentric rows, the statue itself was unlike anything that Kakuzu had ever seen as it easily dwarfed the few surrounding mountains that were near them. Knowing that if he wanted to survive at all he would need to pull out all of his most powerful moves Kakuzu then entered the final stage of his prefered Taijutsu style Pandamonium, as the thousands of fists rained down on him Kakuzu stood his ground and brought to bear everything he could against the onslaught. While in his final state he was able to move and dodge at speeds that other human beings simply couldn't shinobi or not, while using a halberd forged from his chakra to slice through what he couldn't. All the while he did his best to have his elemental golems attack in tandem with one another as best as possible to destroy as many oncoming attacks, sadly there was no way for Kakuzu to withstand the endless attack as he and a large portion of a cliff were smashed to smithereens and fell into the nearby river._

 _Riding out the currents of the massive river Kakuzu wound up being swept away from his opponent as his attack still continued, causing massive rapids that bashed and battered Kakuzu's body as the stream carried him away. But against all of the odds he survived when he washed up on the river banks several miles away near Tanzaku Gai, taking stock of his condition Kakuzu then slowly made his way to a small cache that he had stashed near the large city having had the foresight in mind to acknowledge that there was a strong chance he would lose. Kakuzu had taken certain steps when he was planning out his mission by placing well over a dozen caches of shinobi and medical equipment all over the country side, in case things didn't go as planned and Kakuzu needed to retreat, a fact that then served him very well. But despite that Kakuzu was still in a critical condition the entire time as he made his way from cache to cache nursing himself back to health, to the point where several times he lost consciousness thinking he would never wake up again. Not wanting to spend any more time in Fire Country Kakuzu made his way as fast as he possibly could in his condition back to Waterfall Country, a journey that all in all took the nearly crippled man an entire month to accomplish._

 _After weeks of covering his tracks and dodging patrols Kakuzu had finally made it back to his home in Takigakure, however he was not received with open arms like he had expected. As soon as he had arrived he was arrested and thrown into a prison cell on grounds of high treason as well as the murder of the Takikage, Kakuzu wasn't even given a chance to speak as he tried to ask what had happened. It was not until a few days afterward that he received a visit from the Shinobi Elders while he was chained to one of the walls of his cell, and it was there and then that he learned of their betrayal. They explained to him how they had never planned on allowing someone like Kakuzu to become the next leader of the village, and how it could only be through their guidance that the village would be able to go forwards in the direction that it needed to. And as long as they made sure that the 'right person' was named Takikage that they would be able to ensure that Takigakure would remain safe and strong, they then went on to explain that they had known that there was a great chance that Kakuzu would never come back from his mission which was why they had suggested it in the first place. And how if by some miracle he had succeeded in killing Hashirama then they would simply be out of another rival leader to deal with and Taki's prestige would still skyrocket, though Kakuzu was never meant to survive it would still allow them to frame him better by publicly executing him after he was given a 'trail'._

" _But you shouldn't worry too much Kakuzu-kun…." one of the Shinobi Elders sneered. "You'll be able to rejoin you parents and little sister in hell soon enough, I imagine you'll have plenty of things to talk about then."_

 _When Kakuzu heard that something inside of him snapped as he felt whatever it was that made him human die just then, as he strained against the chains that bound him he let out an inhuman roar before breaking the chains. Immediately setting upon the elders he beat them all till they were bleeding and unconscious, not knowing exactly why he let them live he felt a twinge at the back of his mind telling him to keep them alive for now. Tearing off the chakra suppressing seals that had been planted all over his body he then created several rock clones to carry the elders, stealthily making his way throughout the village Kakuzu eventually made his way into the heart of the great tree that covers the village. There he found the small lake that was made up entirely of the Hero's Water as well as the small island at the center of it, it was there that he found a large heart easily the size of his body on a stone pedestal pulsing with countless black threads surrounding it. After taking one look at it he knew there was no going back for him as he looked at the most closely guarded secret in the village, the heart of a fallen primordial god known only as the Shinju. Working quickly Kakuzu set to work by ripping out the hearts of the Shinobi Elders, all the while enjoying the sound of their screams as he looked each of them in the eye as he held their hearts in his hands. Keeping a steady supply of chakra flowing into the hearts in order to keep them 'alive' he pressed the hearts against the heart of the Shinju, as he did this the effects were almost immediate as the black threads shot out of the massive heart and began to absorb Kakuzu's offering before penetrating his body. As the millions of black threads flooded Kakuzu's very being and became one with him a single word resounded throughout his minde,_ _ **"Jiongu"**_ _, before countless visions and images flashed through his head almost to fast for him to see. Images of a great tree so tall that it pierced the heavens, of a monster so large that it dwarfed everything around it, and of a battle that between this monster and the two men who faced it. A battle that sank an entire continent and destroyed both of this worlds' moons, Kakuzu saw many terrible things as the_ _ **Jiongu**_ _continued to become one with him but despite this he also learned many things from what he saw. He learned what it was he was becoming and how to live forever, he learned that there was no limit to the hearts that he could posses of the other pieces of people he could use to replace lost or damaged ones. And most of all he learned what would happen if he were to eat the heart of the Shinu and absorb the last of its divinity as well as what that would mean for him, with an inhuman roar Kakuzu then sank his teeth into the massive beating heart and tore out a large chunk before swallowing it and biting off another two large pieces and eating them. When it was finally finished Kakuzu spat on the corpses of the Shinobi Elders before leaving, he couldn't afford to waste time as he needed to make a clean getaway still. Taking what he could get his hands on Kakuzu completely outfitted himself as he began sealing away everything he would possibly need from the village armory, as well as looting the village vault of several millions of ryos in gold coins._

 _After gathering up everything that he would need Kakuzu then set off on his own and quickly took up work as a freelance mercenary for hire, it didn't take long for him to find work as he spent the next few years traveling the Elemental Nations as well as the Eastern Kingdoms. All the while learning and mastering his new abilities as well as garnering a name for himself, by the time the First Shinobi World War started Kakuzu was known throughout the world as a top class mercenary known only by his calling card of leaving victims with their hearts torn out. Kakuzu then found himself taking in jobs from many of the newly founded Hidden Villages such as Iwagakure, Kirigakure, Sunagakure and even Konohagakure, though that was mostly due to the amusement Kakuzu gained from the irony. It was especially funny for the grim man when he next met the Shodai Hokage so that he could receive payment from him for the many jobs he had done for Konoha, the look on Hashirama's face was indeed priceless as Kakuzu took his money and wished him a good day. After that Kakuzu had decided to leave and head towards the Eastern Kingdoms and wait out the war, he already had a very large price on his head from killing the Shodai Raikage while on mission helping Kiri's forces and he didn't want to press his luck with what Hashirama might try to pull now that he knew he was alive. Traveling through Kiri by use of their own ships he had paid his way onto a merchant ship that was due to set sail for Land of Demons, it was only because most of Kiri knew what he had done to help their cause that he had even made it through to their ports. Setting sail Kakuzu rested in his quarters as the ship caught a strong wind heading east but unfortunately luck was not on his or the sailors sides on their voyage, they had not even been out to sea for a week when they found themselves caught in the middle of a massive hurricane. The storm battered their ship for days as it continued to rage on, to the point where Kakuzu had to use his Suiton Ninjutsu just to keep the ship from capsizing. The storm was so severe that Kakuzu had to use many of his best Suiton Ninjutsu just to save the ship from the massive tidal waves that were generated by the storm, and by sheer luck they managed to find the 'eye of the storm'. Only then were Kakuzu and the crew able to rest as they drifted along within the eye for the next couple of days, before long they had to leave the eye in order to strike out for an island that was just within their view._

 _As they made their way towards the island they began to lose control of their ship as the currents started to pull it to and fro, looking over Kakuzu and the ship's crew saw that they were being pulled in by a titanic maelstrom with a center that was at least a half mile across in diameter. Despite all that they tried there was nothing that either Kakuzu or the crew could do against the natural disaster, as it swallowed the ship whole into a deep abyss Kakuzu gave one last final thought to his family and the peace in knowing that he would be seeing them soon._

 _The next thing that Kakuzu knew was that he was gasping for air as water spewed from his mouth as his body tried its best to purge its lungs of seawater, after several minutes of painful retching Kakuzu looked up to see he had apparently washed up on a beach and was miraculously alive. As the sun rose up over the horizon signaling the start of a new day Kakuzu's vision began to become blurry as he began to slowly lose consciousness, hearing a voice from behind him he looked over to see the image of a beautiful red haired woman running over to him as he passed out. The last thought to go through his mind as he fell back into unconsciousness was that thought of how beautiful this woman was, with her deep green eyes being the last thing he saw. When Kakuzu woke up he was in a remarkably comfortable holding cell of some kind which confused Kakuzu as he wondered why the hell anyone would bother to make a cell like this, as he inspected the cell he found a seal of some sorts going across his chest. It was a little while later when he received a visitor who quickly introduced himself as the Uzukage of the Hidden Whirlpool Village, and that he was also the Uzumaki Clan Head. After some talking where Kakuzu quickly discovered the significance of the seal on his chest, which would compel him to only speak the truth. Kakuzu learned a lot about his new circumstances as he discovered a little about the village he was in, and how one of the natural defenses of the island he was on are countless massive maelstroms. Kakuzu and the now identified Kenpachi spoke for several hours as he told the village leader about who he was, and what he had been doing, though there was a brief amount of tension when Kakuzu told the man about his assassination attempt on Hashirama Senju. It was at that moment that Kakuzu learned the the Senju and the Uzumaki were close cousins which was why they had always been close allies, it was then that Kenpachi began to inquire about Kakuzu's body explaining that after he had been found the clan doctors ran many tests on him. And how in those tests they discovered that Kakuzu was barely even human if he was even human at all seeing how he had a total of five beating hearts within his body, as well as a chakra network that quite frankly should be impossible for anyone to possess. Despite Kakuzu's best attempts there was nothing he could do but to answer Kenpachi's questions thanks to the seal the was scrawled across his chest, after making a handsign Kenpachi then forcefully compelled Kakuzu to speak through the seal. Thus forcing Kakuzu to tell him everything that he knew, from the betrayal of the Shinobi Elders and their framing him, to the deaths of his family and everything he had done after leaving the village, to even telling Kenpachi about the Heart of the Shinju. Afterwards Kenpachi left to go reflect on everything that he had been told as well as hold a special council meeting and inform them of everything that he had learned, Kakuzu would not see anyone besides the regular guards for another month._

 _When he next saw Kenpachi he was accompanied by the same beautiful woman that he had seen on the beach, who then introduced herself as Misa Uzumaki. Kenpachi then went on to say that they weren't going to kill him and that while he could walk around the village he wasn't free to leave the island till after the war was over, and that he would have to have an escort when being out and about which was where Misa came in, seeing no other real options Kakuzu accepted the terms. From there things were slow going as Kakuzu was a complete stranger to the island, as the time went on Kakuzu began to learn more about the Uzumaki Clan as well as about his escort Misa. As the war raged on Kakuzu and Misa began to slowly grow as friends as they began to learn more about each other, learning about each other's lives and experiences. This was how Kakuzu discovered that not only was Misa an Uzumaki Seal Mistress but that she was also the daughter of the Uzukage Kenpachi, and that all Uzumaki had an unnatural affinity for Fuinjutsu which was evident all throughout the entire village. The village itself was unlike anything Kakuzu had ever seen as there were masterpieces of Fuinjutsu that were being used in everyday life, Kakuzu spent the first several months exploring the massive village where he would always find something new. One thing that certainly caused some tension was when someone from the R &D department had asked to study Kakuzu, as many of the Uzumaki were curious about his abilities and how his body worked. After a few tense moments of staring the man down Kakuzu surprised everyone present by telling him that he'd be there at the R&D Department the next day, the next day most of the village showed up at a special training site for the R&D Dep. to watch Kakuzu. The whole day was spent going through various tests as well as showcasing his abilities, specifically what he could do with the __**Jiongu**_ _, which caught the eye of all of the shinobi gathered there including Kenpachi. Which led to Kakuzu being introduced to all of the local Clan Heads as well as the Jounin and ANBU Commanders, after exchanging some brief pleasantries they got down to why they had wanted to speak to him. They had offered him the opportunity to stay there in the village with them as long as he wanted as an actual citizen, they would even give him a job working with their shinobi forces if he wanted. Though he didn't need to give an answer just yet they did give Kakuzu a month to consider, when he did finally come back to them at the end of month Kakuzu was officially made a citizen of Uzushiogakure._

 _Six months later the First Shinobi World War had ended with the death of death of Hashirama Senju, and subsequent defeat of the other nations. While thousands mourned for their lost loved ones and the still standing Hidden Villages licked their wounds, it seamed for Uzugakure that the war never even touched them. Uzu's only real threats had been Kirigakure and Kusagakure due to Kiri harassing all of Uzu's ships which led to many naval battles, and Kusa constantly attacking any ground troops that made it to the Fire Country beaches. As for Kakuzu he couldn't have been happier with how his life was going nor how bizarre of a turn it had taken, for the first time in a long time Kakuzu had a real home. He was surrounded by people who respected him and appreciated his abilities, and had made friends with several people from the Uzumaki Clan as well as the other clans. He had become great friends with Misa and Kenpachi and had even earned the privilege of learning some of their more prized secrets, their clan Taijutsu style Rokushiki. And in turn Kakuzu showed them all the he knew of elemental ninjutsu, including some of his most powerful techniques such as the Elemental Golem Jutsu. He even began drilling the Uzugakure shinobi in his preferred taijutsu style Kanjo Tekina Ikari, which he was pleased to note that they quickly adapted to it. One thing that Kakuzu didn't count on happening was the relationship ship between himself and Misa, having eventually become friends it soon began to turn into something else altogether as the months turned into years. By the end of the first year of Kakuzu being there they were already good friends, but by the time Kakuzu's second year had come and gone they were in a relationship. Something that was very new to them both, as neither of them had ever really given much thought to such things before. Though at first they tried their absolute best to hide it, ultimately they fooled absolutely no one and within a week the entire village knew. While many were happy for them there was one problem that reared its ugly head in the form of an incredibly over protective father named Kenpachi Uzumaki, when the middle aged man found out about the relationship between them he had more than a few choice words to say on the matter. In order to settle the dispute Kenpachi grabbed Kakuzu and took him to the other side of the island, no one knew what was said between them but the whole village could hear the explosions. By the end of the day the villagers and shinobi were treated to the rare sight of their Uzukage and Kakuzu both limping back through the main gate, covered in bruises and large cuts with smoke coming off of them. They never told anyone what had happened between them nor what had been said but everyone was relieved that they had somehow come to an understanding, though Misa certainly had more than a few words to say to the two of them, tired and battered as they were the only thing either of them could do was quietly take her scolding._

 _The next three years were the happiest that Kakuzu had ever been as he had married Misa after their first year of being together, that had been an incredibly loud and extravagant affair. Everyone in the village had been there to show their support for the happy couple and the party lasted well into the night, for Kakuzu and Misa it was one of the happiest day of the lives. They had moved into a modest sized house within the clan compound and had made it into a proper home, for the next few years they lived in absolute bliss as husband and wife. In that time Kakuzu became an honorary clan member due to his marriage to Misa, and had thus been made privy to the clan's greatest secrets. When Kakuzu had asked as to why he had been made aware of these things Kenpachi's answer left him stunned, because all of the Clan Heads as well as himself and the Jounin and ANBU Commanders agreed to make Kakuzu The Guardian of Uzu. And as such were showing him the ultimate sign of trust that they possibly could to anyone, and that due to his new position the best smiths were forging a powerful weapon for him to serve as his badge of office. While the weapon would take time to forge Kakuzu didn't mind, he had more important things on his mind like his wife and new family. As time went on eventually Kakuzu and Misa were blessed with the news that Misa was pregnant, and that they were going to have a baby boy. After some thought when they had calmed down they had decided to name their son after Misa's great grandfather Zorro Uzumaki, who was said to be the greatest swordsman that ever lived. It seemed to Kakuzu that his life was going to be one filled with happiness, but as Misa's pregnancy progressed and her stomach began to swell many things throughout the nations began to stir. The nations having recovered from the last war were once again flexing their muscles at one another as tensions began to rise once again, Konoha and Uzu were already discussing possible battle plans for what was going to be an inevitable war._

 _What none of them knew however was that the other villages had also been talking to one another for some time, for several months nothing happened as the elemental nations all became quiet. All looking at one another to see who would make the first move and set it all off, it was not until Misa was due to deliver within a few days that Uzu was attacked. The outer perimeter sensors had luckily been able to catch sight of the massive invasion force that was sailing for their island, with only a day to prepare and fortify their defenses it was all they could do as they quickly sent word to Konoha asking for assistance. By the time the invasion forces reached the outer edges of Uzu's perimeter their entire navy had been mobilized, and it was then that they were all able to see just how large of a force their enemies were. There were forces from the Hidden Villages of Cloud, Mist, Rock, Frost, Grass, Wolf, Hot Springs, and Valley who had all come to wipe out Uzu. Thankfully the island's natural defenses of whirlpools had all but halted the invaders as they tried to circle around the island to find somewhere to drop anchor and come ashore, meanwhile the Uzu navy began raising hell as the ships tried to slip in between the massive maelstroms. The forces were held off right outside of the barrier of whirlpools for a week before the Shodaime Mizukage arrived after destroying the aid that was sent to Uzu by Konoha, who then upset the currents within the maelstroms long enough to create an opening for the allied invasion force. From there the Uzu navy was completely crushed by the sheer magnitude of enemies they faced and had to retreat back ashore, the only saving grace that Uzu was given was that the invasion force would have to land on the southern part of the island due to all of the rocky cliffs, and make their way north to Uzu. After the invasion forces had finally mobilized on the southern half of the island the rest of the ships set up a blockade around the island so that no one could escape, while the ground forces began to fight their way up towards Uzu. For every inch that the invaders gained the Uzu forces made them pay dearly for it, turning a simple two day march into a month long commute through hell. The Uzumaki reminded them why they were not to be trifled with as they caused earthquakes, tornadoes and massive electrical storms to wreak havoc on the invaders as well as a new weapon which Uzumaki researchers called Though Bombs to render thousands brain dead._

 _All the while Kakuzu was giving it his all raining down destruction with massive elemental attacks, wielding up to ten mask creatures as he through jutsu after jutsu at the enemy. Even going so far as to combine his elements to create a massive golem that was a combination of all of the elements, which he was forced to use to stop a combined assault that would have buried the village. Meanwhile Kenpachi was forced to deal with the navy blockade as he sank ship after ship in an effort to clear the seas so that his people would have an escape route if need be, a bit of foresight that would inevitably save them. Despite their best efforts the Uzu forces were pushed back towards the village by the invaders sheer numbers, thankfully due to the season of the year the seas had started to become increasingly dangerous due to the seasonal storms. By that time Kenpachi had managed to destroy all of the enemy ships with some help from the storms leaving the invading forces as trapped on Uzu Island as they were, Kenpachi had even managed to kill the Shodaime Mizukage by sinking him and his ship in a massive whirlpool. As the Uzumaki and the rest of the forces gathered inside of the village they through up a massive Fuinjutsu Barrier over the village, behind its safety they came to the grim conclusion that there was no way that they would be able to win out against such an army. And that the only hope that they had was for all who were even capable of fighting to stay behind and deal with the army once the barrier came down, and cover the retreat of all of the non combatants as they fled the island on the remaining ships to Iron Country. A plan that left many heartbroken as they knew what that would mean for all of those who had families, as the village prepared for its last stand everyone tried to spend as much time as they could with their loved ones. Something that Kakuzu and Misa certainly did as they spent the next few days holding their newborn son and each other as often as they could, all the while trying their best to drown out the sounds of the constant hammering on the barrier that could be heard throughout the village. The barrier lasted for eight days before it finally came down early on the ninth morning, everybody who would stay behind had already said their final goodbyes. Those who were going to leave had already filed onto the ships and had set sail while Kenpachi opened up a path for the ships to leave safely, after the last of the ships had made it out he then created a series of massive maelstroms to swallow up any pursuers. The invaders meanwhile had simply resorted to swarming the village and hammering it with everything that they had, trying their best to breach the village walls to avoid being caught in the open. An endeavor that took two days for the remaining invaders to accomplish despite their near constant bombardment of the walls, by then a third of the invading force was left as they spilled into the village. Only to find that the Uzu shinobi had spent the last few days setting up devious traps all throughout the village, led by Kenpachi and Kakuzu the last of the Uzu shinobi began performing ambushes all across the village. Slaughtering as many as possible with large combination jutsus and then retreating to lure their enemies into a trap, while the rest of the defenders perched on different levels of the Uzukage Tower firing off long range weapons and jutsus down on the enemy. As they continued to slaughter all of the invaders they Uzu shinobis' forces started to dwindle fast, even Kenpachi had died while killing the remaining forces still outside of the walls by using a suicide jutsu. As the numbers of both forces within the village dwindled down eventually Kakuzu was left alone in the now quiet village, looking on at the destruction around him he could feel a small part of himself die as searched for any survivors. After finding none Kakuzu quickly got together what he could salvage from his remarkably still intact house, casting a final look back his home Kakuzu set sail on a small boat that was left at the docks in search of the Uzu refugees._

 _Kakuzu spent months searching for the refugees traveling from Uzu Island to Fire Country, and then from there headed north to scour Iron Country. After six months Kakuzu had found no sign of Misa and their son or any of the other Uzu refugees, Kakuzu had given up hope and resigned to the possibility that they didn't make it out alive. Afterwards Kakuzu swore revenge on the villages that took part in the destruction of Uzu, and then went on a ten year killing spree slaughtering all shinobi that he came across that were from those specific villages. Taking up his old practice again Kakuzu began taking the hearts of all his victims, as well as going about killing them in the most gruesome ways possible. Typically by impaling his victims with a slim earth spike up their ass till it came out their mouth, and then ripping out their hearts. Eventually Kakuzu began to earn himself certain monikers like "Kakuzu the Immortal" and "The Witchdoctor", and while Kakuzu did come to find the new fame morbidly amusing it all meant nothing to him. Without his family Kakuzu had nothing left in this world, and so as the years dragged on Kakuzu roamed the world collecting bounties as he went, all the while trying in vain to find something that could occupy his time. Till by chance he crossed paths with a young man with purple concentrically ringed eyes, who convinced him to join his cause if for nothing else than to end the boredom._

 _Flashback Story End_

It was now early in the morning as Kakuzu finally finished his story, he and Hitome had gone through all of the saki by then and had switched to tea a few hours ago. As Hitome digested what she had just been told she didn't even notice Kakuzu get up and head to his room, after coming to a decision she got up and went into Kakuzu's room. Not even bothering to knock she let herself into see Kakuzu was already laying in bed with his back towards her, stripping off her clothes she quietly climbed into bed with him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"What are you doing?" Kakuzu growled as he lay there motionless.

"Keeping a friend company." Hitome replied softly as she slowly nudged Kakuzu to get him to face her, once he had she laid his head on her chest and brought the covers up over them both. They laid there for a long time in silence as Hitome held onto Kakuzu, eventually both of them fell asleep with a matching set of peaceful smiles on their lips.

 **Oh my fucki g god I'm finally done with the chapter! This chapter has been a bitch and a half to write, especially with all of the shit that has gone down recently. 20,676 words total, I've never done a chapter this long before so this is kinda AWESOME. Oh! Before I go I want to mention that while I was coming up with and writing Kakuzu's backstory I had the idea of actually writing his backstory out as a separate mini story from the time of his childhood to the time he first meets Naruto in the woods. Let me know what you all think and make sure to leave plenty of reviews, I REQUIRE YOUR INPUT!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Akuma Sannin**

 **Okay guys here's the next chapter, I've been wanting to write this one in particular for a while now as well as the next few chapters which I'm going to try to just power through for you all. The shit that's going to be going down within these three chapters is going to have some major shit going down in them, and I'm setting a goal for myself to get all 3 of them done by then end of the year. Also thanks for all of the reviews and please keep em coming! : ) NOTICE: READ THE THE BOTTOM COMMENTS, IMPORTANT INFORMATION!**

The front door creaked open as Kakuzu and Hitome made their way inside the River Country hide out, as they walked in they were greeted with a rather unusual sight. There lying on the large sofa were Konan and Naruto cuddled up and sleeping peacefully as the T.V. in front of them showed the main menu to a movie that they had been watching, looking from the odd sight both Akatsuki shared a look before they both silently made their way past the two and into the next room turning off the T.V. as they went. As they walked through the hideout they began to notice how much that it had changed over the few short years that they had been raising Naruto, gone was the barren bunker that only had two measly couches and the barest of essentials. Since Naruto had begun to live there the underground bunker had been transformed into a much more comfortable place, it seemed to the Akatsuki members that Naruto had been determined to turn the place into a home one way or another. Quickly putting up their things they made their way back towards what could be considered their 'living room' to discover Konan walking out of Naruto's bedroom, having already woken up and put Naruto to bed. Without a word the three of them went into the kitchen area to sit down and talk, Konan having already become well acquainted with the underground bunker turned home quickly got out the saki and saucer bowls. Sitting down at the table they drank in a comfortable cool silence as Konan allowed her fellow Akatsuki members a chance to relax, as they sat their drinking the cold refreshing liqueur Konan quickly looked over Kakuzu and Hitome. They had been gone longer than had been expected despite what their mission in Water Country had been, and while they had both used their rings to give her and Pein a report it had been…...brief to say the least. All they had told them that the mission was a bust and that they would give Konan a detailed report when they got back to the base in River Country, neither herself or even Pein had even been able to ask a single question since they left immediately after that. Which had led them both to speculate on just how far south their mission could have possibly gone if they were in that much of a rush to get out of Water Country, still after some talk both Pein and her had agreed to cut them some slack on the matter, after all it's never an easy thing to deal with a mist demon on his own turf. And asides from that they had more important things to discuss at the time such as the condition that they had found 'Madara' in when Pein found him lying face first on a medical table in their base a few months ago, Zetsu was apparently already working on him but it was obvious that he was covered in burns. What had been the most surprising was the fact that someone had apparently slashed his back open damaging it severely as well as revealing his spine, which was also damaged in multiple places. Zetsu had to sedate him for several days as he patched him up, and afterwards had been bedridden as he allows his body to heal, though he had gone to some hidden base of his elsewhere to do that. It had been glaringly obvious that whomever he had recently fought had almost killed him outright, and it had caused her and Pein no small amount of amusement and satisfaction to discover just who he had fought. Especially when they told him about the mission that they were sending Kakuzu and Hitome on, the Killing Intent that the so called 'Madara' let off did nothing to stem their amusement. Either way it was all a mute point now, as they still needed to know what was going on with two of their best members whom she noticed were actually quiet for a change.

After finishing the bottle Konan got up and simply placed the saucer bowls in the sink and rinsed them out, leaving them to dry on a mat by the sink she sat back down at the table and looked over to her to comrades. "Now that you've had some time to relax at least a little I want to know what the hell happened, you two have never reported in like that and it's not like you two at all. Despite the shenanigans that you two can get into you've never even had an unsuccessful mission before now, so what happened and why did it take you two so long to get back here? I was expecting you two a week ago." she said getting right down to the point.

"It was fucked from the start Konan-chan." Hitome answered getting a raised eyebrow from the blue haired woman. "For one it's a bitch and a half to even travel on the main roads to anywhere in Water Country, and we had to stay off the roads and trek into that Jashin damned wilderness to find that asshole! And on top of that while we were trying to find him we learned that the entire country was in a state of high alert because it was in the middle of a civil war, apparently all of the people with bloodlines had spent the last couple years being targeted and ostracized by the Mizukage. From stripping away all of their rights and even moving them into concentration camps, to outright slaughtering them all. They pretty much had enough and have joined together and are fighting back against the Mizukage and his forces, and guess who is leading them!" Hitome said as her voice raised to a near yell.

This news shocked Konan as she hadn't been expecting anything like this, she hadn't even been aware that such things had been going on in Water Country these past few years. "You can't be serious, Zabuza?" she asked as she digested what she was being told.

"Zabuza - Fucking - Momochi! Turns out he had a bloodline of his own that he'd kept hidden this whole time too, beats us what it is though. When we finally found him he had actually gotten the drop on us and had us cornered between him and another guy that could give Pein a run for his money even in his old age." said Hitome as she looked over at her fellow female comrade.

"Who?" Konan asked genuinely curious.

This time Kakuzu answered wanting to keep things on track. "Yogan Terumi, the Leviathan Sage." he said causing Konan to freeze as she looked between Kakuzu and Hitome, both who were dead serious.

"I thought that monster was dead…" she said though mostly to herself.

"We did too till we saw the bastard rise up from the ground in front of us while sitting on a literal throne of fucking lava, we didn't even know Zabuza was even there till we felt his sword against the backs of our necks." answered Hitome.

"Anyways." interjected Kakuzu. "After we got introductions out of the way we went ahead and offered them both a spot in the Akatsuki, which was when we learned that they were both the de facto leaders of the Bloodline Rebellion by the way. Which they both outright refused but at that point it wasn't really much of a surprise so we quickly high tailed it out of the country, we only stopped long enough to give you that report. Afterwards we took a quick detour before coming back here to-"

"Detour? Where the hell did you go?" Konan asked narrowing her eyes instantly pissed.

"I was getting to that, interrupt me again and I'll carve your tongue out." Kakuzu growled. "As I was saying we made a detour since we were in that part of the world to the island of Uzu, you may not know this but before the Second Shinobi War there were actually _six_ major hidden villages. Uzushiogakure was the Sixth Major Shinobi Village and was easily as powerful as Konoha, it was founded by the Uzumaki Clan." said Kakuzu surprising Konan for a second time that evening.

"What?!" Konan asked incredulously.

"Tch tell me about it…." Hitome said with a roll of her eyes.

"I'd rather not repeat myself if need be so I'll save the long ass history lesson for when I tell Naruto tomorrow morning, long story short we picked up some clan heirlooms that rightfully belonged to Naruto. And starting tomorrow he's going to be training with them, if you want the full story then just wait till I tell Naruto but in the meantime I'm going to shower and get some sleep." Kakuzu said as he got up and stalked out of the room, followed quickly by Hitome who began to call after Kakuzu about not using all of the hot water. As Konan sat there she slowly digested what she had been told, obviously there was a lot more to the story over what went down. But the few things that Kakuzu had told her were outright shocking to say the least, and she would definitely have to tell Nagato. This news wasn't something that could just be ignored as it meant that they would almost surely be steering clear of Water Country for the next several years at least, having made up her mind Konan got up and headed off to bed resolving to simply wait for Kakuzu to tell Naruto in the morning.

The next day

"Kakuzu!...Hitome!" cried a young voice which resounded throughout the underground bunker. Both Akatsuki members barely had enough time to turn around before a small red blur cannoned into them and wrapped it's arms around their stomachs, looking down they saw that Naruto was looking up at them his large ears twitching with glee and his horns poking up through his hair. After letting them go Naruto took a few steps back to let them breath before he simply settled for staring up at them, as he did he noticed a very large scroll that was strapped across Kakuzu's back.

"Huh? What's with the scroll Kakuzu?" he asked now curious.

"Hmmm I'm glad your powers of observation continue to serve you well." Kakuzu responded dryly as he took the scroll off of his back and walked over to place it down on the nearby table. "And as for the scroll that's actually a long story though I'm glad you asked about it seeing how it has to do with you anyways, come here and take a seat Konan should be done with the coffee." he said as sat down.

Not wasting any time Naruto quickly sat down along with the others as Konan served everyone coffee, after taking a few sips of the hot beverage Kakuzu spoke. "Everything that I'm about to tell you was kept from you till I felt you were old enough, and now seems to be a good time as any so I suggest you listen closely." After a pause to make sure he had Naruto's complete undivided attention, Kakuzu spoke. "Naruto you're not just some orphan that we found in the woods, you're actually the last of an incredibly powerful shinobi clan. One that was easily as powerful as the Senju and Uchiha clans and twice as dangerous, you're last name isn't just something you were given either. But the actual name of your clan Naruto, you are the last of the Uzumaki Clan of Uzushiogakure as well as its crowned prince." he said as he gauged Naruto's reaction and was not disappointed, Naruto's eyes were the size of saucers and his mouth was wide open in shock. The same could even be said for Konan only to a lesser degree as she absorbed the new information, she knew that she would have to tell Nagato all of this.

Taking another sip of coffee Kakuzu continued. "Your clan were some of the greatest Kenjutsu and Taijutsu masters to have ever lived, and their Ninjutsu was just as impressive. They were also blessed with very powerful bodies and life forces, which granted them massive chakra and stamina reserves, as well as increased life spans which lead to their village earning the nickname 'The Village of Longevity'. But what they were truly famous for was their skill with Fuinjutsu, which made them more feared than the Senju and Uchiha combined. They held such a natural affinity for the art that many attributed it to some form of a Kekkai Genkai, and were thus only limited in what they could do by their own imaginations. From reflecting enemy jutsus back at their opponents to unraveling the very fabric of reality, there was nothing that your clan couldn't accomplish….and it was for those very reasons that they were all destroyed." Kakuzu said the news hitting the poor boy like a ton of bricks.

"Wh-what?!" Naruto cried out in disbelief. "What happened!? If they were so strong then why are they-"

"Quiet boy!" snapped Kakuzu. Naruto visibly recoiled from Kakuzu's tone, flattening out his ears he muttered a small 'sorry'. Seeing that he wouldn't have any more interruptions he downed the rest of his coffee before continuing. "As I was saying you clan was indeed wiped out, in fact this is what started the Second Shinobi War in the first place. There was a massive army of well over 100,000 enemy shinobi and samurai from from the villages of Cloud, Mist, Rock, Grass, Wolf, Valley and Hot Springs. They had all come to wipe out the Uzumaki once and for all, the siege lasted months and when all was said and done none of the invading forces had survived….and the few refugees that made it out alive scattered to the four winds. While the rest of us had stayed behind to cover their escape, that was decades ago though and yet still to this day your clan is still talked about and studied by the rest of the world." Kakuzu said as his eyes bored down into Naruto's small frame, watching to see how his student would react.

Naruto sat there in utter silence and shock as he digested the atom bomb the Kakuzu had just dropped on him, as his young mind slowly rebooted he began to go over what Kakuzu had just said. From what he had said about his clan and their mastery in Fuinjutsu to the list of villages that had destroyed his clan and village, and it was then that Naruto picked up on something in particular. "You said 'us'..." he said quietly as he looked up at Kakuzu. "You said 'the rest of us' as if you were actually there…" he said as he narrowed his eyes at his sensei.

Kakuzu meanwhile stayed silent as he looked across at his student, and for several moments simply held his gaze as he looked his pupil in his eyes. "Yes….I _was_ there…" he said at some length. "It was some time after I had fought the Shodai Hokage that I wound up living there, I had the pleasure of fighting alongside your clan as we defended our home. I'm the only one who survived that I know of, as far as I know the refugees were all slaughtered after I failed to find any of them."

" _Don't worry Naruto-kun, I can tell he's telling the truth…"_ Kurama said having been listening in the entire time.

" _Are you sure?"_ he asked telepathically, despite all of his training Naruto still found it to be a hard pill to swallow.

" _More than I've ever been now shush and pay attention."_ she replied Naruto to steel his nerves and look back over at Kakuzu.

"Naruto you are the last pure blooded Uzumaki alive, and yours is a lineage that stretches back to the Sage of Six Paths himself. Not only that but your mother was-"

"My mother!?" Naruto exclaimed as he started to hyperventilate.

"Naruto!" Hitome shouted grabbing his hand, this act alone seemed to shake him out of whatever downward spiral he was about to dive into. Softening her gaze Hitome spoke "I know this is a lot for you to take in, hell it was a lot for me too but you need to man up now and zip your trap. Otherwise you won't get to hear what Ero-Musha has to say alright?" she said with an uncharacteristic amount of softness in her voice.

Blinking back tears Naruto quickly nodded his head and looked back over to Kakuzu, letting him know he was ready to continue. "For a long time I had thought that the Uzumaki had been wiped out till I had heard of one who had survived and was in the care of the Shodai's wife Mito Uzumaki, that was a little girl who would grow up to become your mother. Her name was Kushina Uzumaki the niece of Mito Uzumaki, I kept a very close eye on her for many years watching as she grew up and became a powerful S Rank Kunoichi. She had become a Kenjutsu legend as well as a renowned Fuinjutsu Seal Mistress, she was even capable of manifesting her chakra into indestructible chains like so many of her clansmen before her." he said as he looked his student in the eye, talking at a simple and steady pace so as to not overload his young charge. "I knew that she had to be your mother simply because she was the only other Uzumaki to ever come out of Konoha since Uzu's destruction, so it wasn't much of guess as to who your mother was since I also knew that she died the night the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. That and one of the bastards that we interrogated the night we found you mentioned how she was your mother, over the years I've done what I could to confirm it whenever I had some free time."

" _K….Kurama-chan?"_ Naruto asked uncertainly as he used his telepathic link to speak to the demoness.

" _H-Hai….I promise I'll explain everything about that night to you Naruto-kun, but believe me when I say it wasn't my fault. I was being controlled that night, I'll explain everything to you I swear just know that I never meant any harm to you or your mother."_ Kurama replied through the link while projecting her emotions onto the boy to show her sincerity.

" _O-Okay Kurama-chan I believe you…..but I want answers later."_

" _Hai"_

"Are you done?"

"Wait what?" Naruto blinked as he looked back at the source of the voice and was met with an irritated Kakuzu, who had apparently got himself another cup of coffee at some point.

"Are you done talking to the Kyuubi?" he asked as he took a sip. "I mean I'm only telling you about your clan and your parents but hey, if you feel there's something more important than that then I can simply leave you to figure it out on your own." he replied the irritation grating in his voice at being ignored.

"Gomenasai….I'm sorry Kakuzu-sensei. It's just that last bit got Kurama-chan talking and she said she would explain herself later, it won't happen again."

"Hmpf, see that it doesn't. Anyways one of the things that we did discover the night we found you was that it was the Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze who sealed the Kyuubi into you, something that cost him his life. It wasn't till afterward when we had managed to get you back here to this hideout that we were able to contact the rest of our organization, it was then that we learned from one of our members who was once a very high ranking shinobi in Konoha that Minato Namikaze was also your father." Kakuzu said before taking another sip of coffee. "Yes that's right the man who was known as the 'Yellow Flash' was your father, and over the years our spy was able to confirm that by sneaking into Konoha's medical storage where they stash blood samples. We took just enough to do a simple DNA analysis to confirm that he was your father, and from there we made sure to wait till an appropriate time so as to tell you."

"But why?" Naruto asked. "Why would he do that to his own son? Did he hate me? Did he not want me? And why would my mom allow it? Why?!" he asked shouting out at the end.

"*sigh* Naruto from what I knew of your mother and father they struck me as very honorable people who must have loved you very dearly, and given the position that your father was in how could he have asked any other parent to give them their baby when he had a child of his own that he could use for the sealing?" Kakuzu replied causing Naruto to freeze as he took in what Kakuzu said.

"He….He really had no other choice then didn't he?" Naruto asked while looking down at the table.

"No he didn't…" Kakuzu said at length.

There was a very pregnant silence that swept over the room as Naruto digested everything that he had learned, and as he did so he tried his best to sort out the many conflicting emotions that raged within him. He couldn't bring himself to be angry with Kakuzu or Hitome because he could understand their reasoning for not telling him, it wouldn't have done him too much good till he was able to properly handle it anyways. But he couldn't make heads or tales of what to think or feel about his parents or Kurama's involvement in their fates, he would have to wait to hear what she had to say before anything else. He also wondered about Kakuzu's past and how he wound up living with his clan, he knew there was a lot more to it than what Kakuzu was letting on. There was a history there but Naruto seriously doubted he would ever get the man to tell him about it, though what little Kakuzu had shared explained many things to Naruto as to why a man like Kakuzu would ever stick his neck out for him. Let alone train and raise him.

Looking back up at Kakuzu Naruto finally spoke. "So what happens now?" he asked.

"You're going to begin learning from this scroll." Kakuzu answered patting the large scroll that had been sitting there on the table the entire time. "And you're to also learn to wield the three swords that are sealed within it as well, those swords were handed down from Clan Head to Clan Head for thousands of years. They are each incredibly unique and powerful in their own ways and when used together one could become unstoppable, their names are Tsukihime, Onihime, and Ryuuk. You will learn your clan's Kenjutsu style Santoryu as well as their style of Fuinjutsu, as well as many other things as well. All that you need to know is contained within that scroll including the sum total of all of the Uzumaki Clan's knowledge, from now on what is within that scroll will be your teacher." Kakuzu said as he briefly looked over at the scroll in front of him. "Me and Hitome will be taking more time out to complete our missions as well as collect bounties the same as Konan, which means we will be leaving you alone for a couple of months at a time from now on. You've proven that we can trust you to take care of yourself as well as not slack off in your training so from this point on your growth is going to be what you make of it, you're going to have to learn on your own from this point so I suggest you do not waste your time." Kakuzu said as he got up and left.

After Kakuzu was gone Naruto looked over to Hitome and Konan who both seemed to be sharing a very similar look on their faces, though he did note that both seemed _slightly_ displeased. "This is something that Kakuzu and I have been talking about for the last year now Naruto-kun," Hitome said at length as she reached over and lightly scratched behind his ears, gaining a slight purr. "We both knew you would get to the point that you could look after yourself without anyone having to look after you eventually, but quite frankly we were all surprised with how fast you grew up and developed. And it's not like we're abandoning you or anything but quite frankly the thing is we have jobs and missions that we have to accomplish that we've had to put off just so we could take care of you these past few years, missions that for one reason or another couldn't be done by the other members of our organization. Especially Konan who has a very important set of responsibilities with overseeing several of our projects, hell even Kakuzu has functions that he has to see too. Him being our treasurer it's only because of him that we've been able to keep track of everything with our expenses while we looked after you, but you know what?" Hitome asked gaining a confused nod from Naruto. "I'm glad we found you, cause it was fun for me and even for Konan taking care of you." she said before getting up and leaving, though not before placing a small kiss on Naruto's forehead.

Fighting back a small blush Naruto looked over to Konan who had already stood up and had made her way over to him, looking down she had a very pleasant smile on her face. "I can honestly say that I've looked forward to spending time with you Naruto-kun, you've been like a small little ray of sunshine and I'm happy to have met you." she said before placing a small kiss on his forehead and leaving the room. Naruto for himself couldn't help but sport a full blown blush at that point as he watched her leave, especially when his eyes briefly drifted down towards the natural lilt of her rear as she walked away. Shaking his head to clear his young mind Naruto sat there for some time mulling over everything that he had been told, as he processed it all more clearly an idea slowly began to take shape in the young Hanyou's mind.

" _Kakuzu said that I was the last pure blooded Uzumaki, and that I was it's crowned prince right? And that everything I needed to know is in this scroll…."_ he thought as he looked over towards the massive scroll that was just sitting there only a few feet away. _"Then I'll use it to become the most powerful person ever! And then I'll rebuild my clan and protect it, that way this never happens to my clan again."_ he thought as he got up from his chair, picking up the scroll he promptly left and struck out into the woods as the sun began to peek over the horizon to signal the start of a new day.

In a clearing in the woods

Having found a suitable clearing in the woods a few miles downriver from what amounted to his home, Naruto slowly peeled open the scroll in front of him. Looking through it Naruto saw that with every facet of the scroll there was an incredibly high level of detail and craftsmanship, from the designs that made the scroll look more like a piece of priceless art to the structure and order that seemed to be found throughout the scroll. The more Naruto looked through the scroll the more he began to realize that what Kakuzu had said hadn't been an exaggeration at all, there were sections within the scroll that were solely dedicated to every single topic that one could think of once he had gotten to the final portion of the scroll. The scroll had a section right at the beginning of the scroll that one could seal the swords into, and after that came sections for Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, Fuinjutsu, Kenjutsu, Bukijutsu, Kinjutsu, and two other sections that dealt with the Uzumaki Clan and Uzushiogakure itself. Deciding that first thing's first Naruto quickly unsealed all three of the katanas that were sealed within the scroll, looking at them he couldn't help the look of awe that spread across his face as he looked them over. All three swords were exactly the same length and possessed the exact same curvature along the blades, they even came in matching black lacquered sheaths. Laying on the ground on top of the scroll the sword on the left had a beautiful tsuba handguard and endcap that were made of some type of glowing metal that gave off a silvery blue glow, its handle was wrapped in black rayskin and an almost glowing pure white cloth wrapping giving the handle a black diamond design. The katana in the middle had a matching circular tsuba handguard and endcap as the first sword, but instead had a blood red cloth wrapping over its black ray skin covered handle. The final sword however looked completely different from the first two in that its handle was completely bare lacking any ray skin or cloth wrapping. The handle was made of an incredibly dark mahogany wood ending in a three fingered claw which held a large jewel for a pommel, the jewel itself was a dark purple and possessed a faint glow to it. Another noticeable difference was the handguard itself which was made out of a dark metal that seemed to suck the light in around it, instead of being a traditional tsuba it was forged into the shape of a demon's head with the blade obviously coming out of its fanged mouth. Even the the area on the scabbard had been altered where it meets up with the sword, so that when it is sheathed it is perfectly flush with the hand guard.

After inspecting them for a few moments Naruto removed all three swords from their respective scabbards and noticed that all of the blades had the symbol for his clan etched onto both sides of the blade near the handguards, which just so happened to be a very beautiful and intricate spiral. As Naruto finished placing the third and final sword down he accidentally nicked his thumb along the edge causing blood to briefly spill on its blade, giving a slight yelp he dropped the sword from where he was kneeling and started to nurse his thumb till the cut sealed up. It was then that Naruto got the sudden feeling that something was wrong, confused at first he couldn't quite place it as he looked around. It was a bright sunny day but for some reason some clouds had moved to block out the sun casting a dark shadow on his location, as the hair slowly began to raise on the back of his neck he began to experience a feeling of dread as if something was coming for him.

" _Kurama-chan what is this?"_ Naruto quickly thought as he began to look around, trying to see if there was anything there.

" _I don't know Naruto-kun, I've only ever felt something like this one other time but this…..it seems so familiar…..but different at the same time."_ Kurama answered as she too began to scan around her host, meanwhile the Jiongu within Naruto's body was going into an almost gleeful frenzy that the demoness couldn't even fathom.

" **Hahahahahaha!"** came a voice from nowhere.

"WHO'S THERE!" shouted Naruto getting more than a little nervous, without even thinking he quickly grabbed the demon headed sword that he had recently spilled blood on and held it in a practiced ready stance. Willing the threads to open up along the back of his shirt he pushed out his Suiton heart which took the appearance similar to four armed toad, compete with a horned toad mask to protect the heart within the beast.

" **Hehehe...Hehehahahaha!"** the voice cackled again from seemingly all directions.

"Alright show yourself!" Naruto called out as he began to mould his chakra so he could be ready for anything.

" _Naruto I don't think whatever this is is human!"_ Kurama told him with a hint of worry i her voice.

" _Wh-What do you mean Kurama-chan?"_ Naruto thought back as he tried to steel his nerves.

" _I can't sense anything within two miles of you, not even any animals it's like they all took off to get away from here."_ she said as she continued to try and discover just WHAT it was that they were dealing with.

" **Ohhhhh this is going to be interesting…."** the voice said causing a shiver to run up Naruto's spine, turning around slowly he looked to the trees behind him which seemed to cast an almost pitch black shadow. Looking into the shade Naruto saw two blood red pupiless orbs staring back at him amongst the outline of a very large spiky haired figure, stepping out into the light Naruto witnessed a figure that could only have come from some PTSD inducing nightmare. The figure before him was fairly humanoid in appearance standing at least 7 ft. tall with a very wiry build, and was wearing what appeared to be a very tight pitch black leather clothes that left only his(Naruto is assuming its a 'he') hands and from the neck up. From what Naruto and Kurama could tell the creature's skin was a grey almost blue in color possessing a large mouth with rows of razor sharp teeth, atop its head was spiky raven black hair that matched the massive raven like wings that were currently sticking out of its back.

Taking a step back Naruto gripped the sword in his hands hard enough to turn his knuckles bone white, "What…..What are you?" he asked as he tried to keep himself from running.

" **Soooo you're the one who now owns the sword? Well that can only mean you're an Uzumaki otherwise you'd have had your soul destroyed the moment you tried to draw it from its scabbard, not gonna lie I'm surprised…..I thought your clan was all dead."** it said as it began to look Naruto up and down. **"Oh, where are my manners? The name's Ryuk and I'm the son of the Shinigami and Kami herself."** the now identified Ryuk answered gaining a stunned look from the eight year old Hanyou. **"You know if you let your mouth hang open like that you're going to wind up swallowing a fly or something…"** Ryuk pointed out causing Naruto to snap out of it and slam his mouth shut, lowering the sword he looked up at the figure in front of him.

"So…..you're a…." Naruto tried to say.

" **A god?"** Ryuk said finishing Naruto's sentence and gaining a nod.

" **Well I can't say I'm surprised really I mean after all most people don't even handle seeing me for the first time nearly as well as you do, even when they're adults they freak out way worse than you are….so good for you kid. Anyways I guess you must have a lot of questions such as what I'm doing here right?"** Ryuk asked gaining another nod. **"Well then you better take a seat cause it's a bit of a long story and put those swords away for now too, they're not the kind of things you want to leave lying around kid trust me."** he said as he folded his wings into his back and took a seat under the tree we was next to, crossing his legs he sat there in the shade as he waited for Naruto to resheath his katanas. Once that was done Naruto sat down a few feet away in front of him, his eyes glued to the strange god in front of him.

" **For starters I'm a shinigami like my father who's name I won't tell you cause only a select few of the other gods are even allowed to know it let alone speak it, and I'm also the son of Kami so I have most of both of their powers and abilities but as you can tell I get my good looks from dad."** Ryuk stated chuckling at the end. **"And the reason why I'm here is because of that sword that you were holding just a moment ago, you spilled some blood on it didn't you?"**

"Hai, but what does that have to do with anything?" Naruto asked.

" **It's simple really you see I'm bound to that sword, you can thank your ancestors for that. Let's just say I had gotten into some trouble eons ago and your ancestors were kind enough to help me out, so in return I offered to help them make that there sword so that way I could help them out from time to time. All one would need to do is spill a drop of blood on the blade and that would be enough to summon me to whoever was in possession of the sword, and since then I've been helping the Uzumaki Clan whenever they needed help or advice."** Ryuk explained as he picked his nails. **"Anyways me and your clan go back eons you see I've always found the both the spirit worlds, Heaven and Hell, as well as mom and dad's realms to be boring as hell. So one day I decided to go to this little little place called Earth for a little vacation, maybe you've heard of it? Well I came to find out just how interesting you humans can be, and boy did I have fun! But eventually I wound up getting into some trouble that was really going to bite me in the ass when I ran into your clan, it was thanks to them that I was able to get myself out of the whole I had accidentally dug for myself. Granted I was still kind of young and stupid back then seeing how I was only about 30,000 years old…..or was I 28? Hmmmm I can't really remember but oh well, so anyways after your clan helped me out I decided to repay them. This led to that sword being forged and thanks to a little bit of my blood it has the abilities that it has, and since then I've sort of stuck around your clan and helped them out whenever I could."**

"What do you mean Ryuk-san?" Naruto asked.

" **Oh please kid none of that formal crap, its irritating just call me Ryuk. And to answer your question I'm the one who always trained whoever it was who wound up being the head of the clan in how to wield those swords, and let me tell you kid you're going to be learning A LOT. You see while you may very well be that last pure blooded Uzumaki around you're going to have to become stronger if you're going to protect anyone, especially when you end up having to provide for your wives."** Ryuk answered with a chuckle near the end.

"Nani?! What do you mean 'WIVES'?!" shouted Naruto incredulously.

" **What you didn't think that you were just going to snap your fingers and kids would appear did you? I don't know if anyone has told you yet gaki but that's not how it usually works, you see-"**

"I know how it works!" Naruto shouted waving his hands in front of him trying to keep Ryuk from going any further. "But….aren't I only supposed to have only one wife?" Naruto asked as he tried to stem a blush from developing any further than it already had.

" **Not really given your situation Naruto, you're the last of an ancient bloodline that dates back all the way to Hagoromo Otsutsuki whom you may know as The Sage of Six Paths. Specifically the sage's younger brother Hamura who was gifted with an unbelievable body and life force which your clan inherited from him, while another clan known as the Hyuuga inherited his Byakugan eyes. Hamura not only sired yours and the Hyuuga clans but also created the other two swords you've got in your possession, by the way their names are Tsukihime and Onihime. He named them after his two wives so that way no matter what they would always be with him, hehehehehe."** Ryuk then began to chuckle a little pervertedly. **"You should've seen how they rewarded him once he told them what he had done and why…..let's just say that poor man found himself defeated and tamed in the best of ways."** he said lewdly causing the blush on Naruto's face to deepen. **"Oops! Got a little off topic there sorry, now where was I? Oh yes that's right restarting your clan, since you're the last of your lineage and clan you're going to need multiple wives in order to 'rebuild' your clan. Which is something that you can't really ask of just one woman to do for you seeing how not only would that put A LOT of stress on her body, but also it would take you and her YEARS in order to make any real progress. Thing is Naruto your clan were very easy going when it came to such things as love and relationships, so they often times practiced polygamy when it suited them. It wasn't uncommon for you to find a man with multiple wives or even a woman with several husbands all living under the same roof. And to be blunt your clan were also some of the biggest perverts around, hell the only things they weren't into were rape, incest, and bestiality. But everything else I'm pretty sure they were the first ones to invent it when it came to kinky sex…...alright what's the matter with you?"** Ryuk asked noticing the look on Naruto's face as he started to tremble. **"Don't tell me this is bothering you** _ **that**_ **much is it?"** he asked as watched Naruto slowly nod his head. **"Okay but why?"** he asked causing Naruto to begin to look very uncomfortable.

Sighing Ryuk reached over and placed his hand on top of Naruto's head, before he could ask what the strange god was doing he felt a rush as countless memories of his flashed before his eyes. What he could remember from his time in Konoha especially Sarutobi-jiji, the night he was tortured and raped, the first time he met Kurama-chan and much more. As the memories flooded past him Ryuk suddenly let go of his head, looking up Naruto saw a look of divine wrath and absolute rage. Like a bucket of water being dumped on him in the dead of winter, the temperature around them dropped to the point where Naruto could see his breath as the grass and trees started to decay and die around them. In an instant it all stopped causing the young hanyou to look around him as Ryuk had literally disappeared in front of him in a swarm of raven like feathers, the trees and surrounding vegetation were a dead black as well as the grass.

" _Kurama-chan what was that?"_ Naruto thought as he composed himself as best he could, he had felt Killing Intent before from having to deal with Hitome and Kakuzu these past few years but what he had just felt was something else entirely.

" _I don't know Naruto-kun but I felt it too…..I think….that's just an effect of being around an angry god."_ Kurama responded as she slowly eased the hackles of her fur back down and began to smooth out the fur on her tails, which had become incredibly poofy.

" **I'm back!"** came Ryuk's voice from behind him.

"Wahhhh!" letting out a yelp Naruto jumped up into a ready position as he whipped around ready to defend himself only to see the strange god who seemed to be much happier. "Don't scare me like that! I almost had a heart attack!" he said getting the crazed god to laugh.

" **Hahahahaha! Alright I'm sorry, oh and sorry for leaving the way I did. But you'll be happy to know that the assholes that hurt you are receiving some….** _ **special**_ **attention."** Ryuk said gaining Naruto's attention.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

" **Ohhhh after I left you here I took a little trip down to hell to talk to Yami and Jashin, they're lovers you see, and I told them what had happened. Needless to say they were less than pleased, and were only too happy to do me a little favor in regards to the douchebags that hurt you."** he explained only to gain more confusion from the young Hanyou.

"Why would they even care?" Naruto asked now truly confused. _"Gods have better things to do than care about what happens to me, right?"_ he thought to himself.

" **Because Naruto despite all of their differences there are some things that we have all always agreed on, and the sin of rape being the lowest and most despicable of them all is one of them. It's one of the few things that will bring us all together in mutual disgust, so whenever something like what happened to you is brought to our attention we ALWAYS make time to deal with it. And the fact that they also harmed a child let alone tortured one is also a big deal, so it's a double whammy for them. Not even the cruelest of demons would think of harming a child, in fact only here on Earth will you find anyone who would actually do that. Almost ALL women despise rape at a deep and personal level which is why Yami was so up for doing what I asked, and Jashin being the father of demonkind HATES it when one of them is hurt. Even Hanyous are favored by him and after sharing the memories that I got from you with him, well let's just say that The Father of Murder knows of you and is going to be in touch with you and your mother figure Hitome."** Ryuk explained.

"M-Mother figure?!" Naruto asked with a blush.

" **Kid you forget that I've seen your entire life, so I know how you really feel about her and the one called Kakuzu as well as the demoness inside of you Kurama. So I know how you feel about them all, so don't be embarrassed it's perfectly natural. Oh and don't worry about the one that got away that night either, he'll get his once he dies. Now moving on to something a little less dark, let's talk about the swords of yours."** he said with an excited grin as he took an apple from Kami only knows where and started to eat it.

"Okay….so what can they do?" Naruto asked as he held each of his family swords.

" **Well for starters Tsukihime allows you to channel and control the five elements of nature, and no I'm not talking about what you can do with a regular old sword made from chakra metal. No the blade itself will literally become made up of whatever element you channel into it, and from there not only will this allow you to greatly increase your attacking power but you will also be able to control that particular element completely. And once you've truly mastered the sword as well as the five elements you'll be able to use them all at once, but that was something that very few clan heads were ever capable of doing for more than a few minutes. The second sword is called Onihime, this one allows you to cut through anything whenever you channel chakra into it, even space itself. When you cut through space itself you can then enter what's known as Limbo, it's a realm that exists within and around all other realms and worlds. When you are in Limbo you will see everything around you is just like the real world that you just left only it will be in shades of grey, white, and black. It's a little disorientating at first so I wouldn't try going in there for a while till you know how to get in and out safely, but anyway once you're in there no one can see or hear or even sense you but you can still interact with them physically. Makes for one hell of a surprise attack that can't be blocked or anticipated, you can also use traveling through Limbo to as a means to speed up getting from place to place. Time doesn't exist in Limbo so you could use it as a means to get from one place to another no matter the distance and not even a second in the real world would have elapsed, even if you had gone to the other side of the world. The only problem is that you can't be in there for too long otherwise you WILL get stuck in there forever, in fact staying there for longer than a week will almost guarantee that you never leave."** Ryuk said enjoying the look of wonder on the little Hanyou's face as Naruto looked from his swords to Ryuk, then back to his swords only to look back up at Ryuk with stars in his eyes.

"AWESOME!" Naruto screamed excitedly as his mind began to race a mile a minute just thinking about all of the things he could or _would_ do.

" **Hahaha! That's the spirit kid! And finally we have the best for last named after yours truly."** Ryuk said as he munched on another apple that he got from seemingly nowhere. **"Now Ryuk is a very special blade simply because that it's tied directly to me, whenever you kill someone with this blade if you want you can seal their soul into the jewel of the weapon itself forever. OR you could have the sword destroy their souls effectively erasing them from existence, they wouldn't even go to Heaven or Hell they would simply be no more. This is meant to be considered the ultimate punishment since not even my mom and dad would be able to bring you back from that, anyways once that's done you could use the power gained from destroying that person's soul to create black hellfire or Ameterasu flames. They're unquenchable flames that will burn no matter what for seven days and nights unless you will them to extinguish, the only things they can't burn are gods such as myself but that doesn't mean it won't hurt like hell for us. We won't take any damage from the flames but that doesn't mean we're spared any of the pain, so be careful when using it kid I mean it…..those flames are not to be taken lightly at all…."** he said stressing the importance to Naruto, who in turn nodded in understanding. **"The other ability that it has is that you can use the power from the souls stored within the jewel of the blade to heal yourself and others or simply bring them back to life if they've died recently, but remember you can only hold up to 10 souls at any time and once they have been….. 'Used' for lack of a better word, they go right to hell or heaven depending on where they belong. Now while those are the three main abilities that my sword can do it also has a few other abilities that aren't anywhere near as powerful, buuuut they're still pretty neat if I do say so myself but for now we'll leave at that."** Ryuk said finishing up his explanation, looking over at Naruto he sighed as he snapped his fingers in front of the boy's face to get his attention. **"Hey gaki snap out of it…."**

Shaking his head Naruto had the decency to look sheepish as he scratched the back of his head. "Hehehehe, sorry Ryuk it's just that this is so cool ya know?"

" **Yeah, I do."** Ryuk answered with a sinister chuckle that once again made the hairs on the backs of Naruto's and Kurama's necks stand up. **"Now we get to the fun part, where I get to torture I mean…..** _ **teach**_ _ **you**_ **how to properly use those swords along with the Santoryu. And with your permission I'm going to do my stuff."**

"Wh-Wh-What are y-you….going t-t-to do?" Naruto asked as he started to back away.

" _Naruto-kun run!"_ Kurama screamed her voice echoing throughout his mind.

" **Oh I'm going to do the best I can…"** Ryuk answered as his hand shot out and grabbed Naruto by the end of his tail as the little Hanyou tried to make a break for it, scratching and clawing at the ground Naruto's attempts at freedom where all for nought. **"Now…..shall we begin?"**

Time Skip

Naruto was sitting underneath a tree in the shade enjoying the cool of the early morning, listening to the soothing sounds of the river as it babled nearby the young Hanyou let his mind wander over the last 14 months. Ever since the first encounter with that crazy ass god Ryuk Naruto's life had once again been turned upside down…. _again._ Ryuk had been just as brutal if not more so than Kakuzu or Hitome with Naruto's training in the Santoryu, or Three Sword Style. From training with large weights hooked up to a pulley system where he had to hold the pulley handles with his hands, mouth and even his tail, to several other bizarre training regimes. Ryuk put him through the ringer on all of it while at the same time drilling him into the ground on the basics of the style, luckily he had already had training in Kenjutsu beforehand so it allowed Naruto to progress very quickly in his lessons. When he finally started to get the basics down that's when Naruto learned how to switch between using his mouth and his tail to hold the sword Ryuk, all while keeping Tsukihime in his right hand and Onihime in his left. Though for convenience's sake he, Kurama and Ryuk had all agreed to keep the swords stashed within the scroll when not in use, Ryuk even showed Naruto a way to summon them immediately to his hands and mouth should he end up in a fight. Meaning besides having a standard Shinobi pouch at the back of his belt, he had his prized kukri horizontally attached onto his left hip. After he had reached an acceptable level of skill after his fourth month of 'training' Naruto had gone on a bounty hunting trip with Konan, something that had had him ecstatic. As they had been traveling they wound up collecting a lot of bounties within their first month in Earth Country, which gave Naruto PLENTY of opportunities to test out all that he had learned. From wiping out bandit camps and tracking down kidnappers, to hunting down missing nin Naruto was able to really put to use most of what he had learned. Unfortunately however they were forced to cut their trip short shortly after their third month in Earth Country, and all thanks to an unlikely run in with some one at a gambling hall.

Flash back

The stakes were high as as the players looked around the table at one another, Konan for herself couldn't help but wonder how in the nine hells she had gotten dragged into this mess. It was just after their third month in Earth Country and they had stopped in a major gambling and hot springs town, Naruto for the most part had been going on about how he couldn't wait to clean out some suckers of their cash at cards. When they had neared the edge of town Naruto had performed a quick henge to hide his horns and added ANBU grade makeup to cover up his whisker marks, and then put on a red western fedora with a wide floppy brim and some dark orange wire framed sunglasses with goggle sidings. He wore black baggy pants that were tucked into a pair of black buckled combat boots, on his belt he wore a simple shinobi pouch at the small of his back on the right as well as his prized kukri, which he had named Red Harvest, still horizontally on his left hip. For a shirt he wore a black loose fitting, long sleeved, zip up shirt with red and gold trimmings, which he kept held in place by a blood red sash tied around his waist. Something that he had done so that way if he needed to call out one of his masks he wouldn't need to worry about completely disrobing or shredding his shirt, all he would need to do is unzip, shimmy out of the shirt and tie it secure around his waist when in battle. Having finished some last minute alterations as well as securing Naruto's clan scroll to his back via a wide leather band, they strode into town looking as natural as could be. Though the minute they got within a block of a gambling hall Naruto took on the most innocent and excited look that Konan had ever seen, childlike sense of wonder and all. With his eyes as big as saucers behind his glasses Naruto acted like it was his first time seeing everything for the first time, grabbing her hand Naruto led them to the front entrance which was being guarded by a fairly large scarred bouncer.

"Hey mister! Could you let me and my Aunty in?!" Naruto asked his face all smiles.

"Hmpf get lost kid, this is for adults and serious players only." the bouncer said waving his hand dismissively.

Naruto then took on a look of pure hurt as if the man had just kicked his puppy, taking his hat and glasses off and drooping his ears down he began to softly sniffle as he looked back up at the man 'Puppy Dog Eyes' on full blast, there were even a few tears threatening to spill. "Pweeeeeaaaase?!" he begged catching Konan and the bouncer off guard.

After a few moments of struggling with himself the bouncer finally relented and opened the door for them. "Gah fine! Just don't say I didn't warn you kid, and don't cause any trouble while you're in there or it's my ass!" the man said as he shook his head, silently wondering how the hell he just got played by a little kid.

"Yaaaaay! Thankyou mister!" Naruto exclaimed jumping into the air, grabbing Konan's hand they went into the gambling hall and made an almost direct beeline straight to the Craps tables. What happened next would stick with Konan for the rest of her life as she watched in mortified awe as Naruto proved to be a con artist with the greatest luck in the world, he managed to play every single person into thinking that he was the picture of innocence. Making what had to be one of the greatest winning streaks that Konan had even heard of look nothing more than a child's first time experiencing beginner's luck, after an hour of playing Craps Naruto moved onto high stakes poker where he was able to trick the players at the table into letting him join in on the game. Acting like a clueless kid who had gotten REALLY lucky at Craps and was now curious about poker, Konan could swear she saw Ryo signs in their eyes as they let Naruto pull up a chair. What happened next started to baffle Konan as Naruto steadily began to lose all of his money little by little one hand at a time, as the game progressed Konan began to think that the luck Naruto had shown earlier was just a fluke and that the poor Hanyou was going to lose everything he had just won.

The other players were apparently thinking the same thing as each one of them went all in on the next hand in an attempt to clean Naruto out of the rest of his money, each laying their cards down on the table they shared a collective smirk as they waited for Naruto to show his hand. Their smirks died and quickly changed to one of gobsmacked horror as Naruto gently laid down a Royal Flush, looking around the table he spoke up. "Ummmm, so does this mean I won?" he asked with a clueless expression before looking back up at Konan. "Aunty Konan does this mean I won?" he asked winking at her in a way that only she could see.

"*Caugh Caugh* Ummm yes Naruto-kun you do, that's called a Royal Flush you see and there's nothing that can beat it." Konan quickly answered as she caught onto what Naruto was doing. _"That sneaky…..sly…..cute…..little fox! He's been planning this from the very beginning! No wonder Hitome always complains about playing with him, he's not just lucky he's a con artist!"_ she thought to herself as she watched Naruto happily collect his winnings from the defeated gamblers, as they turned to leave a voice called out.

"Hey hold it!" came the voice of the only woman there who was actually playing.

Turning around they both saw a blonde haired woman walk towards them, she had been sitting at the far end of the poker table where the poor lighting had concealed most of her form. But now that she was walking up to them in the light they could see that she was an incredibly attractive woman who appeared to be in her early thirties, she had long blonde hair tied back in two loose ponytails. Hey eyes were a honey brown and she had diamond mark in the middle of her forehead, and had easily the largest pair of breasts that either of them had ever seen in their lives. She wore a grey sleeveless kimono style blouse that was held together by a bluish grey obi, which matched her pants that ended halfway past her knees. She wore red nail polish on her toes and fingernails as well as soft pink lipstick with strappy open toed sandals with high heels, completing the ensemble was a green haori with the kanji for gamble in a red circle on the back. Accompanying her was a young woman who looked to be in her early twenties carrying a pet pig which happened to be wearing a small red jacket and a pearl collar in her arms, the woman had short black hair and black eyes and was wearing a black kimono that was held together by a white obi.

As the two approached Konan couldn't help feeling a twinge of self consciousness as she tried to ignore the difference in size of hers and the blonde's chest, keeping her features schooled she addressed the two women. "Yes? Is there something that I can help you with?" she asked as she looked at them both feeling a sense of deja vu as she looked at the blonde in particular. _"Where have I seen her before?"_ she wondered as she quickly shifted through her memories to pull up something.

"I wanna go another round, one hand winner takes all." the woman said as she looked down towards Naruto. "I'll even throw in my necklace." she said showing the beautiful jade green necklace that hung around her neck.

"Lady Tsunade! You musn't!" gasped the younger woman.

"Oh don't worry Shizune, I won't lose. Soooo how about it? You up for one last hand?" the now identified Tsunade asked.

Like a damm opening its flood gates a rush of memories came back to Konan as she remembered a time back when she was only a little older than Naruto, she now knew where she had met this woman before. Thinking quickly she placed her hand on Naruto's shoulder to get his attention before speaking, "Come on Naruto-kun, you've had enough fun for one night and it's getting late. Besides you don't need to be around someone like her anyways." she said gaining a pissed off look from Tsunade and a mortified look from Shizune and the pet pig.

"Just _what_ do you mean by 'someone like me'." Tsunade growled out.

"Oink!" the pet pig said angrily in the young woman's arms.

"Hush Tonton!" Shizune whispered urgently to the pig.

"Just that, Konoha _trash_." Konan replied narrowing her eyes.

"Wait….she's from Konoha?" Naruto asked his eyes widening. Like a splash of cold water the look of innocence and confusion that had been there before washed away, only to be replaced with a cold and calculating look. "Is that so?...How quaint….." he said as he looked back up at Tsunade over the tops of his glasses, with a look that shouldn't belong on a child at all. "So what were you, one of their high priced seductresses or something Boob Lady?" he asked with venom.

"And just who are _you_ calling 'Boob Lady'?" Tsunade asked as she looked down at Naruto, the other patrons and players having already left the area before things got ugly. Narrowing her eyes she noticed the color and slit pupils, on an impulse she finger flicked him in the head _just_ hard enough to hurt and flip his hat off not the ground. If she was expecting a yelp or a grunt of pain she was an for a disappointment as it failed to even faze him, rolling his eyes he gave a mild snort of derision.

"And what was that supposed to do? _Hurt?_ " Naruto asked as the henge on his horns dispelled from the flick revealing them for all to see, picking up his hat he began dusting it off. Looking back up he noticed that Tsunade had a look of shock on her face as she took in Naruto's features, keeping his features schooled he spoke up. "What? Do I have something on my face?" he asked getting Tsunade and Shizune to snap out of it.

"You…..You have horns! And your ears!" Tsunade exclaimed.

"Congratulations your powers of observation are impeccable….seriously have you never heard of a Kekkai Genial before?" Naruto responded rolling his eyes.

Blinking in confusion Tsunade simply gave voice to it. "What?" she asked as she looked down at the little Hanyou completely poleaxed, _"What the hell is going on?! He has the same eyes and hair as my godson…..but...he can't be MY Naruto the old man would never let him leave the village!"_ she thought as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

"You haven't changed at all Tsunade, not since Ame." Konan said trying to gain control of the situation before it got out of control, thinking quickly she spoke. "How's Jaraiya-sensei by the way? Oh wait, that's right you wouldn't know would you? After all you've been away from your village for so long there's no way you could know what's been going on." said Konan gaining the woman's attention as well as steering the conversation away from Naruto.

"What are you talking about?" Tsunade asked not liking where the conversation was going.

Konan laughed at this. "I'm under no obligation to answer you, if you want answers then ask your Hokage the next time you see him. Now come Naruto-kun, we've wasted enough time here." And with that Konan and Naruto turned around and proceeded to leave, but not before Konan stopped by the door and turned around one last time. "Oh…..and your old friend Orochimaru sends his regards." she said before exiting the gambling den with Naruto in tow.

Flashback End

After they had left the gambling den Konan had quickly gathered Naruto into her arms and flown away without making a sound, she flew them for hours heading east trying to put as much distance between them and that gambling town as possible. It was only after they had landed in a clearing and made camp that Konan explained that that woman they had met was a legendary kunoichi named Tsunade Senju, that she was easily the most gifted medi nin to have ever lived and was also one of the most powerful shinobi to ever come out of Konoha. The fact that she didn't recognize Naruto when she actually got a decent look at him was a miracle, because otherwise she most likely would have tried to take him back to Konoha. It was a good thing that the woman had obviously been drinking for some time too, having finished talking they both agreed to head back to River Country so that Naruto could get back to his training. They wound up making great time due to Konan's ability to fly which led to them making it back to what had become Naruto's home in a little over a week, it was still early October when they arrived which meant they were just in time for celebrating Naruto's 9th birthday.

While Kakuzu and Hitome may have been away on a mission he had been able to spend the day celebrating with Konan and Kurama, even Ryuk had been there though only he and Kurama could see him. Afterward though Konan had to go back to Ame so that she could report in and get back to her duties, which had left Ryuk free to put Naruto through his own personal brand of hell that he called 'training'. And through it all Naruto had made great improvements with learning from his clan scroll, even when he was traveling with Konan he would make 100 Shadow Clones and have them all read from the same book or scroll at the same time only dispelling once they had finished reading. His progress in learning the Santoryu had also greatly improved to the point where he had mastered the single bladed techniques of his clan's sword style, as well as finally mastering the rest of his original Tetsu no Ryu sword style. Which had given birth to the idea of trying to find a way one day to combine both sword styles to see if he could create his own unique attacks, or even a new sword style all together! This also led to Naruto learning so much about his clan and their ways and traditions in an unprecedented amount of time, it also allowed him to learn more advanced chakra theory and control then he had originally thought possible. And when it came to Fuinjutsu it turned out that the Uzumaki blood ran strong in him because he picked it all up like a fish to water, the vast majority of it just seemed so damned simple to him that he couldn't figure out why others didn't get it at all.

For whatever reason Naruto just couldn't get enough of the knowledge that was inside of the scroll, to the point where he was using hundreds of clones daily just to read and absorb as much possible information as he could. It had even gotten to the point where Naruto had passed out at one time when he was traveling with Konan, causing her to forbid him from pushing himself to such extents for long periods of time. But by then end of it all Naruto had been able to vastly increase his repertoire of skills and Justus, as well as polish and perfect all of his existing ones. One thing that Naruto had been very happy to discover was the means with which to create the Anti-Rape Seals, it appeared that it was going to be a combination of several different already existing seals that his clan had created. The only problem was that all of the ones involved were all well above his skill level to create, and figuring out how combine all of them would be another thing entirely. Still it did nothing to dissuade Naruto as he merely delved further and further into the mysteries of his clan's Fuinjutsu. And ohhh the things he was learning, from Elemental Sealing Scrolls that would allow him to seal any enemy elemental jutsu no matter the size, power or shape. He couldn't wait to seal some stuck up Uchiha's Katon jutsu on them, truly the Fire Sealing Method was a going to be a devious little surprise especially when used to shoot their attack back at them.

In all of this time Naruto had even managed to make progress with his swords' abilities, due to his prior training in elemental Ninjutsu he was able to master the the first several techniques that one could do with Tsukihime. From simply channeling elemental chakra into the blade to taking it to the point where the blade itself actually _became_ pure refined elemental chakra, and from there Naruto discovered that while the sword was in an elemental state he could use that element if it was near him too, just like Ryuk had said. From turning the sword into an almost angelic blue blade of pure Suiton chakra which he could then command the water from a nearby river once the blade made contact, usually Naruto would simply dip the tip of the sword into the water in between his feet. To turning it into a blade of pure Doton chakra which had an ancient...stone like appearance to it, Naruto wasn't fooled by the slightly mundane appearance of the sword however. Because the minute he tried to swing it at a boulder the size of a small house it was reduced to rubble, as well as every single tree within an acre of him when he used them for practice. Konan and Kakuzu were right in describing Doton as the crushing element, and when Naruto sunk the blade into the ground around him he felt like he was connected to the very earth itself. After some brief consultation with Ryuk he confirmed that Tsukihime also acted as a medium between nature itself and the wielder, and when exerting your will you could control all of the elements of nature. Which was what allowed Naruto to command the earth around him to turn into a rolling _sea_ of earth and rock, spitting up earthen spikes, or creating massive swamps of mud. Naruto eventually learned the basics for all of the different elements with Tsukihime, which had led to him having a powerful advantage when he was bounty hunting in Earth County. When it came to Ryuk, Naruto had to have personal instruction from the god that the sword was named after himself. Which meant that he had to learn on the fly while clearing out bandit camps and eventually he was able to learn how to 'Judge' people's souls, either storing the souls within the sword or erasing them. He couldn't possibly summon the Ameterasu flames or bring someone back from the dead but he could certainly heal himself and others. He had also learned one of the other abilities of the sword which was stylized after the god himself, called 'Raven's Barrage', coating the blade in chakra and then folding it on top of itself over and over again till the blade is covered in countless black 'feather's'. When swung it would release hundreds of these feathers that were about 9 inches long and razor sharp as a kunai, all in all it had the power and utility as a high B Rank borderline A Rank jutsu. The first time Naruto had used that Kenjutsu on a bandit camp in northern Earth Country he had couldn't believe how awesome it was, one swing and he had wiped out almost half of a bandit camp of 400 strong. Something that caused Naruto to do a short victory dance before he proceeded to annihilate the rest of the bandits, the one sword he had made the least progress with was Onihime. It had proved to be the most difficult to learn how to properly wield due to its sheer complexity, due to the fact that it constantly channeled raw Yin and Yang chakra throughout the blade in order to separate space/time. Besides mastering how to cut through anything as well as perform a variation of Kenjutsu: Pressure Wave which would send out a wave of pale blue energy that would cut through anything, but would eventually cut through space/time itself leaving a 'tear' there for a few minutes. Afterward the 'tear' would 'stitch' itself back together as if nothing had happened, after several days of experimentation Naruto had learned that he could make as many 'tears' as he wished. And when he threw kunai or shuriken or even Justus through them, they would shoot out of one of the other tears present. Figuring that unique aspect of the sword alone took the young Hanyou almost a week to figure out on his own, needless to say Naruto was forced to grind through many hours of trial and error.

As Naruto wrapped up his thoughts he heard footsteps coming up from his side, looking over he was not surprised to see Hitome approaching. Unlike usual he wasn't too thrilled to see her given the conversation he had had between himself, her and Kakuzu. They had come to him the night before with some very unpleasant and alarming news, that for one they would be leaving the base there in River Country for good since one of their spies had tipped them off to Konoha getting suspicious of their presence. Second that they would be resettling in Grass Country, and finally that he would have to come with them to _Konoha_ so that way they could get valuable information from one of their spies. The news was not received well at all, resulting in an incredibly heated argument between the three of them for well over an hour. It wasn't till Kurama had finally stepped in in agreement with Kakuzu and Hitome that Naruto finally relented, after heading to sleep he had spent the whole night inside the seal crying in the demonesses arms.

"You ready to go?" Hitome asked as she came up to him.

"Yeah." he responded as he got up, dusting himself off he then strapped his scroll across his back before walking towards what had been there home for the last few years. Upon arriving they saw Kakuzu waiting for them outside the entrance in usual garb, without a word they all departed and began heading east. As the hours dragged on Naruto finally decided to speak up. "So just _why_ are you guys taking me with you to Konoha with you? And what's so important that you would risk taking me along with you in the first place?" he asked seeing as none of them had been able to cover any of this the night before.

There was a brief moment of silence as both Akatsuki members shared a quick look before Kakuzu spoke, "We're taking you with us because none of the other members are in any position or are too far away to look after you, what with Konoha and even the River Country Daimyou getting suspicious we would have to move anyhow." Kakuzu explained. "And on top of that one of our spies who travels around as an Inter-State Merchant was able to secure some news at the last moment, however the intel will only be good for so long and we're on a time limit to grab it."

"What's a Inter-State Merchant?" Naruto asked confused.

"It's a merchant who has the same travel rights as a Sannin or a Kage, in that they are allowed to travel wherever they wish and through _any_ country's borders. They even have access to most if not all of the hidden villages, and due to their role of bringing in trade and wealth to just about everyone all of the shinobi villages have agreed to never fuck with them." Hitome stated as she picked some wax out of her ear with her pinky finger. "They're also regularly used as a go-between for hostile villages who have to do business with one another, ferry messages from Kages or Daimyos to other important lords and the like. They all travel together as one large roving band constantly on the move, no one knows when or where they'll be next but whenever they do show up that place will rake in A LOT of cash just from their being there. They're also an amazing source of rumors and intel, it's a well known fact that they know everything that goes on throughout the world which is one of the other reasons that they are given a wide berth. The things they know could cripple every single Hidden Village in the world, it's actually impossible to become one of them, you're either born into it or married into it." she explained as they continued to walk.

"So this guy is one of your spies on the payroll? No wonder you want to get to him fast…" Naruto said as he took in what he was hearing.

"That's correct, and the information that he has is absolutely invaluable. And what makes it worth the risk is that it's him who's supplying, due to his status he and his guild are going to be in the Merchant District of Konoha. Where he will have both security as well as plenty of privacy, and the best part is that his presence also gives us a legitimate excuse for being in the village. Who would think twice about a pair of bounty hunters and their son showing up to their village during the week that the Golden Company is in town?" stated Kakuzu.

"Good point." Naruto conceded as the continued down the path. "But still, just _what_ is the intel?" he asked.

Looking over her shoulder at him Hitome was the first to speak. "It's intel on the current locations of the Yonbi and Gobi Jinchurikis, as well as the list of people most likely to become the Nanabi Jinchuriki." Kakuzu said evenly without breaking stride.

Despite how casual he had been told the news stopped Naruto cold in his tracks for several moments, shaking his head he quickly caught up to them. _"Kurama-chan are you hearing this?"_ Naruto thought urgently as he processed what he was being told.

" _Yes Naruto-kun I did, see what you can find out."_ the demoness responded her mind already going into overdrive over the _many_ implications.

"So why are you so interested in people like me?" he asked trying to sound as casual as he could, try as Naruto might though, he couldn't fully quell the knot that had begun to form in his gut.

Looking over their shoulders simultaneously Kakuzu and Hitome answered at the same time. "Money" they said in unison, smirking Hitome then pointed at Kakuzu. "Jinx! You owe me saki!" she cackled.

"No…..I don't." Kakuzu growled in response. "Naruto how much money do you think that other Major Hidden Villages would pay for intel like that?" he asked causing Naruto to scratch his head.

"*Sigh* Think of what a Jinchuriki is Naruto. They are meant to be weapons of mass destruction, the ideal soldier meant to never get tired, never run out of chakra and destroy all of their villages enemies. Just as a rule all Jinchuriki are considered an S Rank threat even if they themselves aren't S Rank shinobi. What do you think rival villages would do to capture one of them?" Kakuzu asked.

"Ummmm just about anything right?"

"Correct." Kakuzu replied. "If someone was able to get ahold of a properly trained Jinchuriki they could either brainwash them into being loyal to _their_ village, or simply extract their Bijuu from them and place it inside of one of their own people. Either way they would wind up with an incredibly powerful shinobi or kunoichi with VERY large chakra reserves, add onto that that they would also have whatever abilities that their Bijuu grants them. And that with time they could even master their Bijuu's chakra to the point where they could turn into the very demon the hold within them….no are you starting to see where I'm going with this?"

"That type of information would be worth a fortune wouldn't it?" Naruto asked gaining a nod from the two Akatsuki. "Sooooo…..when are you guys going to do that to me?" he asked at length causing Hitome and Kakuzu to come to a stop. Kurama for herself had extended her senses as best she could, having been listening to their conversation she was now doing her best to try and detect any lies.

"We're not going to sell you out to any of the villages Naruto…" Hitome said at length.

"Unlike the other Jinchuriki in the world you're unique in that you're a Hanyou, which is the reason why our leader was so insistent on our organization training and raising you. When a Bijuu is extracted from its host that person dies, do you know why?" Kakuzu said.

"No...why?" asked Naruto shaking his head.

"Because when the Bijuu is extracted from them it puts such a strain on that person's body, having something that had been apart of them their entire lives taken forcefully from them kills them. But unlike them you are Hanyou, if Kurama was extracted from you your body wouldn't miss having all of that demonic chakra that its so used to having taken from it. Seeing how your own chakra is just as demonic as hers, and your body is much more resilient you would survive. We saved you and then it was decided to raise you and train you, so that you could become a very powerful ally to us in the future." Kakuzu answered before turning around and continuing down the road, flanked quietly by Hitome.

Having said that it became silent the trip became silent for most of the way to Konoha, after a few days of travel they had put up camp for the night in a clearing in the woods by a large river. With plans to strike camp early in the morning they had all retired to their own tents, Naruto however for some reason couldn't fall asleep. Something was bothering him, he had already made peace with the fact that he was going back into Konoha it was something else. He couldn't put his finger on it as he lay there in his sleeping bag, getting up he put on his sandals and slipped out of his tent. Deciding some fresh air was in order Naruto began walking, after some time Naruto came upon a large river. Looking across he saw a rather large clearing that had been cut out of the forest, and in the center was a large circular shrine. After crossing the river he entered the open walled shrine, and discovered to his surprise a beautiful marble statue. The statue was that of a small fox eared boy with whisker marks on his cheeks and a pair of fox ears on top of his head, and encircling around him protectively was Kurama in her fox form. Naruto couldn't believe what he was seeing as he took in the sight before him, the sheer level of craftsmanship that was put into it was enough to impress anyone. Looking at the statue Naruto couldn't detect any amount of malice nor hatred that was put into creating it, the look on 'his' face was one that was peaceful and innocent. And somehow whoever the creator was had managed to capture a look of pure kindness on Kurama's 'face' as well, making it obvious that she was there protecting him. At the bottom of the statue there was a plaque carved into the marble at the foot of it, upon further inspection Naruto saw that there was an inscription.

" _To whomever visits this shrine know that you stand on hallowed ground, for herein lies the shrine to a hero. A hero who was unjustly hated from the day of his birth for that which he protected everyone from, a hero whose very life was made a sacrifice to protect his village. This shrine is dedicated to Naruto Uzumaki, first born son of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze the Yondaime Hokage. May he find peace and happiness in the pure world with his parents who loved him, and may we who failed him one day earn his forgiveness. Goodbye Naruto._

 _\- Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato._

Naruto stood there for what felt like years as he read the inscription again, and again, and again, and again. After coming to terms with what he had read Naruto took a few steps back out of the shrine, looking around he began to notice just how familiar the clearing was. From the river behind him to the full moon up above, as he took it all in he realized just where it was that he was standing. He was standing in the same clearing that he had been abused in, blinking back tears Naruto's senses became hyper aware as he tried to keep down the pain that was slowly building up in his chest. As his breathing began to quicken flashes of that night started to race through his mind, as the memories began to come one after the other Naruto began to hyperventilate.

" _Naruto-kun! You need to calm down right now! Just breath!"_ Kurama shouted inside his mind, having sensed her container's distress. Try as she might however it was in vain as Naruto let out a roar at the top of his lungs, pouring everything he was experiencing into it. Having finished screaming Naruto collapsed to the ground and blacked out, the last thing he saw before darkness took him was a _very_ large pair of hands reaching down to pick him up.

Early next morning

Naruto woke up with a start in his tent, sitting up he quickly looked around only to see Ryuk who was sitting across from two didn't say anything for some time, after getting ready for the day Naruto finally spoke up.

"Thanks Ryuk."

" **No problem, I could sense your stress from home. I never knew they built a shrine for you after what happened, you have to admit it's kind of nice."** answered Ryuk.

"Yeah…" Naruto replied not really knowing what else to say.

" _Naruto-kun, don't you scare me like that ever again young man do you HEAR ME?!"_ said Kurama through their link, her voice rising to a scream by the end.

"Kyu-chan!" Naruto gasped having forgot about her.

" _Ohhhhh don't you 'Kyu-chan' me mister, I swear to Yami if you EVER scare me like that again_ _ **I will eat your limbs and shit you out!"**_ she roared stunning Naruto, especially when he started to hear a slight sniffling. Going into the seal Naruto saw that she was back in her human form and her eyes were puffy and red from crying. Before Naruto could say anything he was quickly scooped up in a bone crushing hug, try as he might he was unable to surface for air.

"Kyu-chan…...air…. _please…._ " he gasped out as he started to flail around in the demonesses grasp.

" **I think you should let him go Kurama, don't want him to pass out again."** Ryuk said appearing in the landscape with them.

"Oh!" Kurama gasped quickly letting the poor boy go. "Hehe sorry….wait no I'm not I'm still mad at you." she said with a pout near the end.

" **You should cut him some slack, it's not like he knew about the Hanyou Shrine."**

" *sigh* ok…" Kurama conceded.

"Sooooo what what was up with that shrine? And why was it _there_ of all places?" Naruto asked.

" **Well do you remember that night after our first day of training?"** Ryuk asked gaining a nod. **"Well after we were done I took a little trip over to Konoha to do a little he'll raising, but I was actually surprised by what I had seen. I had started by looking around the village before I visited the Hokage, I simply shifted through his memories while he was asleep."** he stated before pulling out an apple from his pocket and eating it.

"And what did you find?" the demoness asked curiously.

" **That he had beaten me to all the hell raising I wanted to do…"** Ryuk answered chuckling. **"It would seem your surrogate grandfather turned the entire village upside down, and went on his own little witch hunt after he discovered what had happened to you."** he said gaining surprised looks from the two of them, he then went on to explain everything he had seen in Hiruzen's memories. From how he had discovered what had happened to Naruto to everything that happened afterward. How Hiruzen had personally hunted down everyone remotely responsible, which had led to the public shaming of multiple shinobi clans and families. As well as conducting _many_ mass executions in _public,_ to finally revealing to the entire village Naruto's true heritage. By the time Ryuk had finished neither Naruto nor Kurama could speak, as neither had suspected so much to have gone on since that fateful night.

"Wait…." Naruto said shaking his head. "What about Fugaku-teme? Are you telling me he got away with what he did to me!?" he asked angrily.

" **, Almost…...see he's actually being secretly investigated by the other higher ups, along with the rest of the people running the Uchiha Police Force. He's been covering his tracks so well that the Inuzuka Clan Head suspects it might be him, or someone else who is likewise in a position of power."** he answered. **"With the way things are looking I'd say that he'll probably get caught within a few years time, but we have other things to deal with right now."**

"Like what?" Naruto asked.

" **Like the fact that Kakuzu and Hitome are waking up, we can all talk about this later but right now we need to get this show on the road. Literally, and remember what I said about not telling them about me."** Ryuk said as he disappeared from the mindscape.

Leaving the mindscape Naruto opened his eyes to find himself back in his tent, walking outside he saw Kakuzu and Hitome exiting their respective tents as well. Not even bothering to say anything they all quickly prepared and ate a simple breakfast before striking camp, moving at a decent pace they'd make it to the front gates of Konoha a little after noon. All the while Naruto was silently talking to Kurama and Ryuk about what he had just learned, going over it all he was glad for the time that he had to process it all. He couldn't shake the feeling why but something told him that he would need it, having come to terms over the new information he looked up just in time to see the Hokage Monument appear in the distance.

They were almost there…

 **OK so I'm not gonna lie I would have finished this about a week ago but some shit happened and I forgot…...my bad…. Anyways the next chapter will start with them entering Konoha and will progress from there, can't wait to start writing.**

 **I was wondering what the hell I was going to do for the 3rd blade Ryuk for a while before i finally hammered it all out, and I had been dying to introduce Ryuk himself for a long time. Truth be told I think he sounds like William Dafoe from the recent Netflix adaptation of Death Note, but PLEASE tell me what you think and leave a review.**

 **Truth be told I was going to put all of the stuff that goes down in Konoha in this chapter originally, but decided that it was better I leave things off here as they are. This way I can give the drama that's going to go down in Konoha the attention it deserves, as well as do a few other things. And as for the clan swords in Naruto's possession, I tried to make sure they're not stupidly OP or anything like that. But I wanted them all to be easily on par with Kisame's Samehada or Orochimaru's Kusanagi. And before anyone gripes let me remind you that Naruto lives in a world where you have the Uchiha Clan, who had the most broken and OP bloodline limit of all, the first Hokage's Wood Release, and the Terumi clan who could fucking create and control fucking LAVA! And lets not forget the Sage of Six Paths' sword the Sword of Nonoboko which could destroy and create entire worlds in a single slice, all in all Naruto having 3 badass swords isn't that over the top. And it's not like using a single one of the will be a cake walk either, as you read earlier in this chapter. Naruto won't actually MASTER all 3 swords till he's about 17, and certain ascended weapons such as the weapons of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist will be able to stand up to Naruto's swords.**

 **And finally, I'm going to be creating one or two key weaknesses that Naruto will be cripplingly vulnerable too, that way he will have REAL obstacles to face and overcome. Can't have him skate through the entire story like this shit is easy now can we? *WINK WINK* SERIOUSLY, leave me PLENTY of reviews on what those weaknesses should be, preferably 2 but no more than 3, and the best ones will be written I to the story. Think of them as Naruto's Kryptonite.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Akuma Sannin**

 **Ok so before anything else I want to let you all know the NO, Naruto will NOT be getting a Death Note. While I may be making Ryuk a character in my story(with my own spin on him), having one of those damn books in the story would simply ruin everything. Cause then what would be the point in having him train or have those swords, when he could simply write somebody's name on a piece of paper? When it comes to Ryuk I decided that he sounds like the recent Netflix version which is voiced by William Dafoe, why? Because that man just has one of the most sinister sounding voices of all time, the kind that if he called your name out while you were walking down a dark street you would think Satan had come for you soul. And FWI I kind of took some inspiration from 'A Nightmare Before Christmas' when the Boogeyman had captured Santa, that part where Santa askes Boogey 'what are you going to do?' and he responded with 'I'm gonna to do the best I can'. I loved that part A LOT because no matter what that response just promises the absolute worst possible outcome for whoever hears it, you KNOW you're fucked, so I hope you enjoyed it. And if you don't get the reference AT ALL then just look it up on YouTube, trust me its there.**

 **I've also decided that Naruto will indeed have a weakness to holy weapons that are traditionally stored in temples, such as the Fire Temple thats led by Chiriku which will basically be his Kryptonite. He will also have a weakness towards women, never** _ **really**_ **wanting to fight and hurt any of them as well as being just as perverted as Jaraiya. Only Naruto will actually be able to make it work without getting his ass kicked all the time and will wind up getting A LOT of ass, and yes eventually 5 wives. As such he will be WAY more susceptible to females' charms than he normally would be, and this will cause him to become distracted even when in combat.**

 **And finally I want to say sorry for the wait on this chapter as most of you don't know I do armed security, meaning my ass is basically marching around outside every shift getting beaten up by the elements. And down here in San Antonio I was the one on duty when it actually fucking snowed, as well as all those nights that it got down into the 30's and 20's. Even on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve I was outside getting the shit kicked out of me by the ridiculous wind and the cold, suffice as to say my health hasn't been too good for December and January. BUT! I'm making sure to crank this particular chapter out now and get it finished as of 1/23/2018, so it should be finished and up on the web sometime by late February. Gotta start this year off with a damn good chapter and I REALLY don't want to fuck this one up, this is the one chapter that I have been DYING to get to since I started writing and publishing this story. ENJOY!**

As the trio walked on the forest road they eventually came upon the great gates of Konoha, after checking in with the guards stationed there they had their passports stamped and were admitted entry. Upon walking into the village they could see that the village was alive and bustling with activity due to the presence of the Golden Company, but also it would seem for another reason entirely. As they walked through the streets they heard talk of something that surprised the hell out of the three of them, that apparently the peace treaty between Kumo and Konoha was being signed today. And that not only had the Kumo Ambassador arrived earlier with the Lightning Daimyou, but also that the Raikage himself was here! This news hit Kakuzu, Hitome and Naruto like a ton of bricks as they quickly picked up the pace, heading into the Merchant District where the Golden Company was residing they discovered that it had become a maze. With all of the stalls and tents set up as well as all of the people running around it took the three shinobi over three hours of walking around before they eventually found their way to the tent they were looking for, which as luck would have it was right across the street from a ramen stand. Looking at the ramen stand Naruto got a sense of deja vu as he stared before his stomach made its presence known, growling loud enough to gain the attention of everyone within 30 feet of him.

"I take it you're hungry?" Kakuzu asked dryly as he reluctantly handed Naruto a large wad of bills.

"Damn gaki you just ate ramen not too long ago! Where do you put it all!?" Hitome exclaimed.

"I dunno." Naruto said shrugging his shoulders and accepting the wad of bills with a thanks. "I just love eating ramen…hmmmm I wonder if they serve saki?"

"Naruto no getting drunk while we're in the village, and make sure you have something to do while you wait. We'll be in here for a while talking with our man, so no wandering off." Kakuzu lectured as he checked his watch. "Now it's 1449 right if we hurry we should be out within the next five hours if we're lucky, hopefully there isn't a long line like last time."

"Seriously?!" Naruto asked incredulously. "That fucking long? Wow….alright then I'll be at the ramen stand across the street." Without another word Naruto headed across the street as Kakuzu and Hitome entered the large tent, pushing past the flap that acted as a barrier of sorts Naruto was about to open his mouth to order ramen when he stopped cold. With a single look Naruto now understood the nostalgia and deja vu he had felt as he made his way to the stand, there on the other side of the counter was a man who was busy preparing ramen, a man that Naruto had not seen in years. A man that used to make him ramen whenever he came to his stand with the Hokage years ago, as his brain slowly rebooted the man looked over his shoulder.

"Come on in and take a seat, I'll be right with you." he said kindly.

"Noodle-jiji!" Naruto screamed excitedly.

"Wha-? Oooff!" the old man turned around only to be bowled over as a red blur cannoned into him, and knocking him to the ground. Shaking the stars from his vision he looked down to see a small red haired boy with blood red slitted eyes and a large pair of red and black fox ears, which just so happened to be twitching happily. And if that wasn't enough he had a fox tail that matched his ears as well as two horns poking up out of his forehead, as the pieces slowly started to fall into place he quickly realized who he was dealing with.

"Naruto!" he cried out as he hugged the little Hanyou happily, a hug that was readily returned.

"Daddy what's all the noise about?" came a voice from further back. Coming out from the back of the stand was a pretty young brunette girl who appeared to be about a year younger than Naruto, looking down at the scene in front of her she had a moment of confusion before she realized who it was as well.

"Na-Naruto!" she cried out as she embraced him in a vice like hug squishing his face into her developing chest.

"Ican'tbelieveitsreallyyouImissedyousomuch!Howareyoualive!?Areyouwell?Whathaveyoubeendoing?Wherehaveyoubeen?!" as the questions came out in rapid fire the older man who was clearly the girls father came to his rescue once he noticed that Naruto's face was turning a BEAUTIFUL shade of blue.

"Alright! Let the boy breath Ayame, he can't talk if you smother him to death." he said chuckling as he pried the boy from his daughter, allowing sweet precious oxygen to flood his lungs.

"*gasp* Oxygen! How I've missed you!" Taking a moment to recover from his near death experience Naruto then stood back up, looking at the Ichirakus he couldn't stop the tears that fell down his cheeks as he wrapped his arms as far around both of their waists and brought them in for a hug. Wrapping their arms around the boy they held him for a time simply enjoying the moment, after some time they released each other.

Getting up off the ground it was Teuchi who spoke first. "Naruto I can't believe my eyes, we had all thought you had died after that night." he began noticing the slight twinge at the corner of the young boy's eyes. "I don't even know where to begin I have so many questions, like how are you even alive? Where have you been? And what the hell is up with the horns?!" he started to say before Naruto raised his hand up, sighing Naruto pulled out a small bottle from his belt and took a swig from it.

Placing the bottle back on his belt he looked up at two of the most important people that he had ever known, "I guess I have a lot of explaining to do then huh?" he asked gaining a nod from the ramen chef and his daughter. "Alright but you should probably close the stand so that way we can talk cause it's going to be a long story, and could I please get some ramen? I'm starving." Deciding that was indeed best Teuchi and Ayame quickly closed down the stand and made Naruto a few bowls of miso ramen, after finishing them off he began his tale starting from the very beginning.

Meanwhile at the main gates of the village

A rather pretty black haired woman was doing her best to keep up with her mistress as she continued on full steam ahead, having barely any time to give the guards a glimpse of their passports before having to run at full sprint just to keep from losing her. Not that it would have mattered seeing how the woman in question was one of the Legendary Sannin who just so happened to be infamous for her temper, and luckily for the gate guards the two of them were smart enough to spot an absolutely _pissed off_ woman when they saw one. Looking over to his likewise sweating partner the two newly minted Chunin shared a brief look, with a nod they both quietly took part in an age old tradition: of pretending to have not seen a damn thing.

"Tsunade-sama! Wait up! You can't just go barging in there, especially not now of all days!" cried the young woman as she caught up to her mistress.

"I don't care Shizune! I'm going to get answers one way or another and that damned peace treaty can wait, now come on the Hokage Tower isn't that far away!" Tsunade responded angrily as she stormed through the streets of Konoha, all the while leaving a trail of knocked over people and shop carts in her wake as her assistant apologized repeatedly for what had happened. It had all started almost seven months ago in Earth Country, they had run into who could only be the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi and since that night they had been searching for him. After they had left that gambling den they had searched the town and the entire surrounding areas, after covering most of Earth Country and then some of the smaller countries. As luck would have it she ran into Jaraiya in Hot Springs Country and told him what had happened, describing the entire situation as well as what Naruto looked like both Shizune and Tsunade had been shocked at the murderous look on the man's face. He then told them that he would immediately begin searching for the boy as well as as much intel as he could find on the woman they had seen, though none of them were hopeful since the most the man had to go on was 'black coat with red clouds' and the bit concerning Orochimaru was alarming to say the least. Before Jaraiya had hauled ass out of there he had told them that they would need to go see Hiruzen if they wanted the full story on what had happened, as well as something about 'not having the stomach for repeating certain things'.

As they made their way through the halls of the Hokage Tower several ANBU and Jounin had attempted to stop them, only to find themselves sent to the land of dreams with the last thing they saw being Tsunade's fist. With a large crash the door to the Hokage's office was reduced to splinters before in strode Tsunade followed quickly by an embarrassed Shizune, the reactions of the people inside the office was immediate. As they had all taken defensive positions around their respective Daimyos, looking around the room Tsunade could tell that the rumors about the peace treaty had been accurate and from the looks of things it had _just_ been signed and finalized. From left to right stood the representatives of Kumo and the Lightning Daimyo and Konoha and the Fire Daimyo, as well as their respective guards. On the left there was the Lightning Daimyo who was a middle aged tall man with very dark skin and a peppered gray goatee who was wearing his official robes of office, in front of him where two Kumo Jounins who both possessed dark skin. One wore standard Kumo shinobi attire as well as a large cleaver sword in his hands which was covered in black lightning, he appeared to be in his late teens and couldn't be more than a few years younger than Kakashi who was on the other side of the room with his Chidori ready. The next man was heavily muscled and actually had eight swords held in different places all over his body and was covered in a shroud of pure Raiton chakra, Tsunade immediately identified this man to be the Eight Tails Jinchuriki as well as the brother of the Yondaime Raikage. And speaking of the Yondaime Raikage he was there too with his own shroud of Raiton Chakra activated, standing at 198 cm. tall the man was even more heavily muscled than his brother. Next to him was a light skinned man with a goatee who wore a standard Kumo Jonin in flak jacket, wearing his headband in a similar fashion as Kakashi to cover up his left eye. He actually held a very large Nodachi in his hands in a guarded position, the blade witch was at least 4 feet long, and cackled with Raiton chakra. Near the tsuba of the massive sword was a very unique gold kanji for 'Blood Eagle', marking him as the Kumo Ambassador.

On the right there was Hiruzen in his Hokage robes with a pair of Kunai in his hands and a perplexed look on his face, Tsunade couldn't help the small smile that spread across her lips at seeing her old sensei. Behind him was the Fire Daimyo who did _not_ look happy at all, and flanking him were Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy. The room was tense for a few seconds before everyone lowered their guards and eased up…...if only slightly.

"Tsunade-hime as much I love seeing you again, this isn't the best time to be testing the strength of my door" Hiruzen said with as much self control as he could, a look of pure silent anger on his face.

"What the hell is this Hiruzen?!" growled the Raikage a vein already beginning to pulse on his forehead. "There better be a damn good reason for this!"

" Yes Tsunade-hime." spoke the Fire Daimyo as he adjusted his robes. "Just because you come from an ancient lineage does not give you leave to simply barge in here uninvited, I trust there is a good reason for this." he said speaking sharply, his aggravation at the turn of events showing.

Gathering herself up Tsunade addressed the people in the room, her voice straining as she tried to keep from screaming. "I apologize for this interruption but this can not wait, I need to speak to the Hokage immediately so I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Now hold on there! I don't know who you think you are bitch but you don't just make demands like that to-" whatever else the Kumo Ambassador was going to say was cut off as he was sent flying through the one of the windows, courtesy of Tsunade's fist.

"Never call me-" *SMACK* The room had become silent as everyone looked to the Fire Daimyo who had smacked her, all registering the look of cold fury on his face.

"That. Is. _**Enough**_ _."_ he ground out. "For your sake there had better be a _damn_ good reason for committing an act of _war,_ or there will be _consequences_ woman _._ " 

"Ohhhh you can be _damn_ sure of that Wakai, the treaty hasn't even been active for 5 minutes and then this shit happens. I have half a mind to cleave her in two!" said the Lightning Daimyo.

"I can assure you Furui that this will be dealt with swiftly, now what the hell is so important that you would risk sending two nations back into war young lady?" said Wakai as he straightened his robes.

Quickly swallowing a lump in her throat that she hadn't been aware of before, Tsunade quickly composed herself. A seldom known fact about most if not all Daimyo was that they were all trained from the time they could walk, to not only be leaders but also be full fledged warriors. Trained by the samurai of Iron Country in all arts of war as well as the Shinobi arts of chakra control, poisons and Genjutsu, so that no one can fool or deceive them. And so that they could defend themselves should the need arise, it had been said that the Fire and Lightning Daimyos were on par with Mifune himself making them Kage level opponents. To receive a threat from the both of them was daunting to say the least, even in her anger Tsunade knew that she should tread lightly.

"I apologize for my actions and will accept full responsibility for them afterwards, but what I came here for cannot wait…...even for a peace treaty." she said evenly having schooled her features.

"That is a very bold claim to make Tsunade." said Hiruzen as he began to pack his pipe with tobacco. "Normally I would suggest making this more private but I don't think that will be happening, start from the beginning." he ordered as he lit his pipe, walking over to his desk he sat down.

Taking in a breath she told them her story of what had happened all those months ago, leaving nothing out she told them of her encounter with what could only be Naruto. As she did this she took note of the reactions from the Hokage, the Fire Daimyo, as well as Guy's and Kakashi's. Their faces morphed due to several emotions from shock to most notably shame, wrapping up her report she asked the question that had been plaguing her for the last several months.

"Old man, what happened?" she simply asked.

"Yeah, I'm curious as well. Along with just who this boy is, cause this story don't sound so swell." said Killer Bee chiming in.

"Shut up Bee." snapped the Raikage. "Loath as I am to admit it but my brother has a point, what's so special about this boy?"

"Naruto Uzumaki was our Jinchuriki who housed the Kyuubi," the Hokage began at some length. "Due to a failed assassination attempt on his life when he was only a few days old the boy had been permanently changed, the dagger that was supposed to hit his heart instead hit him square in the center of the sealing matrix on his stomach." he said going into detail as to why Naruto looked the way that he did, as well as explaining that he was indeed a Hanyou. With a sigh Hiruzen continued with his story, how he had to take dozens of precautions just to keep Naruto alive. How many a night he would have to employ Shadow Clones along with his ANBU to guard Naruto while he tended to his duties, which led to him stopping well over a hundred different assassination attempts in just under 5 years. Inevitably it got to the point where he had to beg the Fire Daimyo himself to look after the boy, a plan which had almost worked. But had one major problem, in the form of Hiruzen having to leave for the capitol for a week in order to finalize everything. Hiruzen then went on in great detail explaining everything that had happened the night before he had returned to the village, which just so happened to have been Naruto's birthday. It was a good thing that Hiruzen had activated the privacy seals in his office, or the combined Killing Intent coming from all who hadn't already known would have given half the village heart attacks. Tsunade and Shizune were sobbing by the end of the story, Hiruzen having just wrapped up the last of the details regarding the one that got away who had earned the moniker 'The Ghost'. Looking at the clock on the wall the Hokage saw that they had been talking for over 6 hours, which didn't surprise him given what they had discussed. Looking around the room he saw the same looks of disgust and rage on everyone's faces, disabling the security seals he spoke.

"I know I don't need to tell any of you not to breathe a word of this to anyone, and I'm going to be sending out my ANBU to see if they can locate the boy you saw Tsunade." he said speaking g in a calm voice that bellied the look of anger he wore.

"But sensei it _is_ him you can't-" before Tsunade could finish her sentence though everyone in the room felt a massive spike in chakra, one that felt oppressive and dark. For Hiruzen and the rest from Konoha it gave them flashbacks of the Kyuubi attack, for the ones from Kumo it reminded them of the many times the Gyuuki broke free. Looking out the many windows of the Hokage office, they saw a large plume of smoke rising up from one of the streets in the distance. Without another word the shinobi in the room shunshinned out to investigate, leaving the two Daimyos alone in the office.

30 minutes earlier

Naruto had been having the time of his life, he had been catching up with Ichirakus for the last 6 hours now. After getting over the I initial shock of running into each other Naruto had told them everything, from what had happened to him the night he was kidnapped to present day. He had told them about the two who had been raising him this whole time along with what they had been teaching him, a subject which had the both ramen chef's shuddering. He had even told them how they had been living at the bunker in River Country, though that was mostly due to them no longer living there anymore. The young Hanyou had a blast telling Ayame and Teuchi about the many missions he had gone on, despite all that Naruto had spent the better part of the day telling them there was one thing that really stood out above all the rest. And that was that there little Naruto had been in contact with the Kyuubi for years and not only was the mighty demon a _she_ (something that had Ayame thrusting her fist into the air while screaming "Yeah! Girl power!") but the demoness was actually incredibly nice. It had taken some serious convincing on Naruto's part to sell that to them, which had eventually led to him grabbing their hands and pulling them into his mindscape. They were both in for a shock however when Kurama walked over to them in her "human" form, something that caused Teuchi to almost have a nose bleed, and started talking to them. They continued on like this for some time sharing memories with one another as well as answering questions, such as how things had been since Naruto had left the village.

It was at that point that things took on a more somber note as they both recalled that terrible year for the young Hanyou and demoness, which confirmed much of what Naruto had already been told earlier as well as much much more. The Hokage had indeed torn through the village going after anyone and everyone responsible, it had led the entire village living in fear of him due to all of the mass executions. Not even the shinobi clans were safe from him at all, he openly raided several their clan compounds killing anyone who was found responsible for what happened to Naruto, or even just got in the way. This also led to many of the shinobi and civilian council members being arrested and executed as well, especially after it was discovered that one of the civilian councilmen had murdered Jihi Ichiraku. Ayame's older sister who had personally looked after Naruto when he was still at the orphanage, this news had shocked Naruto as he remembered the woman in question who used to spoil him. The Ichiraku's then went on to tell him how the Hokage had compensated them by making Teuchi a member of the Civilian Council, as well as awarding them ownership of half of the bastard's assets making them very wealthy. While it couldn't replace Jihi in any way it was still good to know she had been given justice, they had then went on to tell him of other things that had been going on in the village. Such as how Ayame had recently been enrolled into the Shinobi Academy 6 months ago and was already top of her class, something that made Naruto ecstatic to hear. From there they covered many topics before eventually they got to the serial rapist that had yet to be caught, the one who had earned the nickname 'The Ghost.

Tales about how the man couldn't be identified because he had found a way to permanently warp his DNA beyond recognition, despite everyone's best efforts they could not catch him. And how he targeted mostly Kunoichi _and_ young Shinobi, which made it all the more terrifying. Especially when he would go weeks sometimes several months or years without striking, and never in any discernible pattern. Naruto had snarled when he heard all of this as he knew who it was, as he opened up his mouth to tell the ramen chef's who "The Ghost" was he sensed something. As he froze in mid sentence he began expanding his senses, one good thing that had come from his horns growing out of his head was the extra sensory abilities. As he expanded his senses he immediately was hit with a wave of emotions coming from a fast moving presence, no…... _two_ presences. He could feel and taste desperation and nervousness mixed with some elation and excitement, whoever it was _he_ was certainly happy he had succeeded in whatever he was doing. The next one however almost knocked him off his seat, the sheer level of fear and panic rolling off of _her_ (if the pheromones were anything to go by) was staggering. Naruto could also sense confusion coming from the female, as if she had no idea what was going on or could even understand.

As the pieces slowly started to come together in his head, he was subtly reminded of what he had felt when he had been hunted down like an animal. For some reason Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that he _needed_ to investigate what was going on, and that if he didn't he would come to regret it forever. Opening up his eyes he saw that Ayame and Teuchi were staring at him with question looks, both clearly not having a clue as to what was going on.

"Naruto are you Ok?" Teuchi asked concerned.

"Yeah you just blanked out there for a minute on us, is something wrong?" Ayame chimed in as she was worried about her little brother figure.

"I'm sorry you two but I have to go, I don't know what but something's going on that I have to look into." Naruto answered swiftly as quickly got up from seat, fishing in his pocket he slapped a very large wad of money down on the table in front of him. "I really wish I didn't have to go like this, but something's happening right now." he said as he looked them both in the eyes. "I promise this won't be the last time you see me, and I'll try to get in touch with you soon but for now please don't tell anyone that I was here. But make sure you tell Hokage-jiji that I was here tomorrow, that way I'll have plenty of time." Without giving them a chance to say anything Naruto quickly hugged the two of them before taking off into the streets, jumping up onto the rooftops Naruto quickly scanned around for his quarry. Spotting a man jumping from rooftop to rooftop he quickly gave chase wanting to see just who it was the man had slung over his shoulder, after a few minutes of chasing him Naruto finally got close enough to see that the person slung over the man's shoulder was in fact a little girl. In that instant all Naruto saw was red as charged chakra into his legs and practically flew towards the apparent kidnapper, sensing an incoming presence the man in question whipped around just in time to see Naruto slam into him shoulder first. As the three of them fell to the ground Naruto and the stranger both came to land on their feet, while the little girl thankfully landed on a large bush. Getting a better look at the young girl Naruto could see that she was about 4 years old, and had some of the largest and prettiest eyes he had ever seen.

As he gave the girl a quick once over he noticed how she was wearing silk clothes that could make her pass for royalty and that her eyes were a pupiless marking her as a Hyuuga, glancing over at the girls kidnapper he could see that he was a light skinned man in his thirties and was obviously a shinobi. He wore black shinobi sandals and pants along with a standard Kumo flak jacket and shin guards, strapped to his back was a massive nodachi whose blade had to be at least 4 feet long. His head was covered in what appeared to be some recently applied bandages and over them was his Kumogakure headband which was covering his left bruised eye, looking closely Naruto saw that it was dented near one of the ends in the shape of a fist. Looking back towards the scared little girl in confusion and then back to the fully grown man in front of him, Naruto couldn't help but say the only thing that came to mind.

"Did _she_ do that to you?" he asked gesturing to the little four year old who was huddled up against the wall.

Scowling the man reached his right hand up and drew his nodach from the small magnetized mount on the back of his flak jacket, holding it out one handed he pointed it towards Naruto. "Very funny brat, I don't have time to fuck around with you now get lost and mind your business before I turn you into a memory." he threatened as he slowly began to advance towards the little girl. "Come here Hinata- _sama_ , you're coming with me." Reaching out to grab the now identified Hinata, he had to quickly jump back to avoid being pierced by a blade of chakra. Looking back he was surprised to see that the chakra blade extended from a katana held in Naruto's hands, he was also surprised to see that the large brimmed hat the he had been wearing a few moments ago was gone along with his glasses. Sitting atop his head were a pair of large black tipped fox ears that matched his blood red hair, he even had a pair horns sticking out of his forehead!

"Just what the _hell_ are you?" the Kumo nin asked as he briefly pulsed his chakra to make sure he wasn't under a genjutsu, taking stock of the Kenjutsu the boy had just used he was surprised when he realized where he had seen it. _"Tetsu no Ryu style: Drying Pole….how does this brat know one of Mifune's techniques?"_ he thought to himself.

"Complicated." Naruto answered as he moved himself in between Hinata and her kidnapper.

"Wrong…..you're dead." Without another word the mysterious Kumo nin closed the distance between them at full speed looking to end things quickly, with a swift clean slash he cut through Naruto right down the middle. Whatever sense of victory he might've had at that moment was short lived as 'Naruto' disappeared in a puff of smoke revealing two pieces of a split log, a small high pitched 'eep!' came from his target as the little girl watched on as the two shinobi fought.

His danger senses warning him to move the Kumo nin quickly turned around and blocked several slashes that were meant to leave him in pieces, he could honestly say that he was surprised by the skill and power that was behind the young Hanyou's attacks. Deciding to test his young adversary the Kumo nin then began pressing the attack forcing him back, the young swordsman was certainly smart to never try and meet any of his attacks directly. Let alone outright block any of his attacks, as strong as Naruto was for his age they both knew that he couldn't hope to compare to the weight and strength of a full grown man, an advantage that the Kumo nin made sure to use. Both not wanting to draw too much attention to themselves kept the fight to pure Kenjutsu and Taijutsu when needed, it had come to a great and unpleasant surprise when Naruto revealed that he had a tail hidden under his coat. Which he had loaded up with pure Doton chakra essentially turning it into a large flexible steel club, when it slammed into the Kumo nin's chest he was actually able to break a couple of ribs before sending the man sailing through the air. Before Naruto could relish in his accomplishment he was sent sailing in return by a Mud Bullet that had been spat at him from the Kumo nin as he flew backwards, taking a direct hit to the chest Naruto was firmly planted back first into the ground.

As the both of them shakily stood back up using their respective swords for support, the both of them glared at one another. Since those last two attacks had hit home for the both of them that meant that they were both dealing with the same type of damage, broken ribs and bruised lungs, which left the both of them gasping for air.

"Quick…*pant*...question…" Naruto said gaining the attention of his opponent. "Just what the fuck….is the Kumo Ambassador...doing kidnapping kids in Konoha?" he asked in between breaths as he straightened up, his broken ribs having healed themselves already.

" _Be careful Naruto-kun, there's a reason why he has such a high bounty in Earth County."_ Kurama warned.

" _Got it Ky-chan."_ he thought with a smirk as he felt the demoness blush at the affectionate nickname.

"I'm under no…...obligation to answer you _boy_ , and not that it'll matter in a few moments…..but if you must know I'm taking her to one of my benefactors. She'll fetch a nice price on the black market…..especially since she's _pure."_ the Kumo Ambassador answered between pants with a sneer as he readied his nodachi.

That was all that Naruto needed to hear as let out a bestial snarl and summoned his other two swords from his scroll into his free hand and mouth, forming wicked looking chakra scabbards on all 3 swords Naruto charged at the Kumo Ambassador. Pumping large amounts of his potent chakra throughout his body Naruto practically became a miniature tornado of blades as he tried everything he could to cut the older man down. As the two of them dueled it was obvious to see that the older of them was easily more skilled and had much more experience as he was able to easily block and deflect all of Naruto's attacks, Naruto however continued to press forward as his mind went into overdrive thinking of a way to slip past his opponent's impenetrable guard. In a moment of realization Naruto mentally kicked himself before making several sealless Shadow Clones to surround the Ambassador, with a mental command they all attacked at once from multiple sides. This caused the older man to sweat a little as he had to now not only focus 8 human buzzsaws coming towards him from different directions, but also try and finish the fight quickly before anyone happened by them or came to investigate. It was pure luck that they were in a more scarce and empty part of town but that type of luck would only hold out for so long, gritting his teeth the Kumo Ambassador decided to end things immediately.

"ENOUGH! Raiton: Kenjutsu: Iron Spin!" the Ambassador screamed as he suddenly sank low to the ground with his massive Nodachi held horizontally, coating his weapon in pure Raiton chakra he quickly spun around like a massive top of death at incredible speeds. The technique blasted back both of the Shadow Clones causing them to dispel as well as send Naruto flying to the ground in a crumpled heap with several large gashes on his chest, coming to a stop the Ambassador smirked to himself as he turned to admire his handiwork. Hinata whom had been all but forgotten in this whole mess watched in fear as the older boy who had been trying to protect her was hurt, she couldn't understand why the mean man had been trying to take her away from home but she knew enough to recognize that she had to get away from him. He young mind had been trying desperately to think of something she could do to get away, and then this older boy that she had never seen before comes out of nowhere and starts fighting her kidnapper. It had reminded her of one of the stories her mother had told her a few nights ago about a samurai fighting to save a princess, and now as she saw the boy bleeding and lying still she knew that all of her hopes of being rescued had been dashed.

As Hinata and the Kumo Ambassador looked at the prone form of Naruto they were surprised as he poofed into smoke, revealing a cut up log resting over a hole that had been quickly dug into the ground. "Santoryu: Demon Slash!" came a muffled voice from nowhere, before the Ambassador could do anything Naruto burst out of the ground directly in front of him his swords already in mid swing and cutting deeply into the man's already damaged chest.

"Gaaahh!" the Kumo Ambassador cried out as blood flew from his mouth, the force of the attack having sent him staggering several feet backwards though remarkably he was able to remain standing for a few moments before sinking to his knees. "You little bastard!" he snarled as he glared over at an equally furious Naruto. "You know what? Fine! If I can't have my prize then neither will you!" he screamed before adjusting his grip on his nodachi and turning towards Hinata, as the warning bells went off in Naruto's head he lunged forwards in an attempt to stop the now crazed man. "No!" he screamed but alas he was an instant too slow as the Kumo Ambassador threw the nodachi just before Naruto could reach him forcing Naruto to watch on in horror as the massive weapon sailed off and impaled Hinata through her heart and into the wall behind her.

Time seemed to stand still as that moment was stretched into an eternity causing the sight before Naruto to forever be burned into his memory, looking down Hinata had a look of shock and confusion on her face as she tried to understand what had just happened. Softly touching where the blade met with her chest with her little hands, she looked at the blood on them before tears started to stream down her cheeks as she looked back towards the boy who had tried save her. As her vision faded the last thing she saw as the light left her eyes was Naruto with tears in his eyes as he stood stock still in front of her and held her, holding onto her small form Naruto couldn't help the scream of despair that tore its way out of his throat as he held the poor girl. Fighting to keep from hyperventilating Naruto carefully removed the blade from Hinata's chest, throwing the weapon off to the side he held the little girl against his chest as he silently cried.

"Hi-Hinata?" came a broken voice from the other side of the other side of the street prompting Naruto and the Kumo Ambassador to look over, standing there was a man who was obviously the little girl's father if the striking resemblance was anything to go by. He wore a very beautiful and regal blue and white silk kimono, the look of horror splayed across his face seemed to almost by magnified by his Byakugan eyes which were active, meaning the poor man was there to see the _exact_ instant that all life had left his daughter. Almost stumbling forward the man walked over to his first born and the strange boy holding her, upon reaching them Naruto looked up into the man's face as he tried to find something to say but couldn't. As the man sank to his knees next to Naruto he silently took Hinata from Naruto's arms and held her to his chest as tears streamed down his face, his grief having taken his voice from him.

Meanwhile as the Kumo Ambassador was left completely forgotten the man had not been idle, as he silently worked on healing himself. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth he almost laughed at both the fox eared boy and the girl's father, the Hyuuga Clan Head no less, and worked as fast as he could to heal himself as well as possibly mend his broken ribs. Having always been more of a warrior than anything else the Kumo Ambassador had always recognized the importance and invaluable nature of Iryojutsu, Medical Ninjutsu. Which was why he had devoted his entire career to not only learning whatever he could about Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Kenjutsu, but also Iryojutsu. Making sure that as long as he had chakra that he could heal most battlefield wounds even when in the middle of a battle had made him a war hero of Kumo and Lightning Country, being able to save his comrades lives while at the same time making himself incredibly difficult to kill. He had quickly risen to the higher echelons within his village as being one of the only people in the village who could match Killer Bee in Kenjutsu, as well as the best Raiton user and Taijutsu master in the village second only to the Raikage and his brother. With all of this in mind it burned him up and wounded his pride greatly in being had by such a simple Gennin level trick, reinforcing an old mantra he had grown up with about even a Kage being able to fall to a simple bandit if he's not careful. As he inspected his wounds he would begrudgingly admit that the fox brat had gotten him _good_ , that last attack had been the kind that would put most Jounin and ANBU out of commission till they got medical treatment. He supposed he should be thankful that they hadn't really wasted any chakra on jutsus cause that allowed him to heal himself from that last attack, something that took up just over half of his chakra to heal as well as replace the blood he had lost. Standing back up he was happy to discover that he had been all but forgotten, which meant that he could use the opportunity to at least come out of this mess with something to show for his troubles. First he loses the Hyuuga Heiress and then almost gets killed by some half demon fox child, it was safe to say that it simply wasn't his night. Didn't mean he had to walk away empty handed though, the corpse of any Main Branch Hyuuga would fetch an amazing price from any of the hidden villages, especially if it came with a live one attached to it. But no matter what the fox boy would have to die.

With that in mind the Kumo Ambassador picked up his Nodachi quietly from the ground and stood behind Naruto and the Hyuuga Clan Head, being careful not to cast any shadow over them. Adjusting his angle and hold on the massive weapon the ambassador knew what he was about to do needed to be timed perfectly if he was to do this in a single stroke, aiming to cut the boy's head off and then twist the blade so that the back of it slammed into Hiashi's neck and knock him out cold. As the blade came down he smirked in victory as he attempted to kill the little brat that had caused him so much trouble, only for the sound of metal striking metal to ring throughout the air. The Ambassador and Hiashi gasped in shock as golden chakra chains had seemingly erupted from the young Hanyou's back to block the incoming blade, wrapping themselves around the weapon and holding it still all without damaging Naruto's clothes. In that instant the entire village was flooded with Killing Intent, it was oppressive and full of pure rage, and was coming directly from Naruto. With a besital roar Naruto whipped around as his dark purple chakra coated his entire left arm and punched the Kumo Ambassador as hard as he could in the stomach, his clawed fist launching him into the wall across the street.

"Toxic Luster Claw…" Naruto growled as he glared at the groaning Ambassador, after a couple of seconds Naruto smiled as the Kumo Ambassador's groans quickly turned into pained screams. Flexing his chakra Naruto resealed his swords into the scroll on his back before walking over to the downed ambassador, upon reaching the man he couldn't help the blood thirsty grin formed on his face. "Do you like my little jutsu?" he asked as he continued to listen to the man's screams.

"Gyaaaaaah! What the fuck-ahhhh!...is happening?!" the Kumo Ambassador asked in between screams as he clawed at his stomach and legs. His body felt like it was on fire where he had been hit and the pain was not only getting worse and and worse, but it was also starting to travel down his legs.

"That would be my Toxic Luster Claw hehehe, as you probably guessed by now I'm not exactly normal right?" Naruto asked not really waiting for a response he continued. "Well the thing is I'm actually half demon, a Hanyou, meaning my chakra is very much demonic. And because I'm also the Jinchuriki for the Kyuubi my chakras toxic potency was dramatically increased, at this point its as toxic as the Kyuubi's. My Toxic Luster Claw jutsu simply takes advantage of that fact, condensing it and even refining it into an even more volatile substance. Sure it takes massive amounts of chakra to perform but the that's not really a problem for me, and the end result is my first ever original jutsu. An A ranked Kinjutsu no less." Naruto explained as he watched his chakra slowly eat its way down the Ambassador's legs. "It will eat away at your body till there's nothing left of you, even a glancing blow from my Toxic Luster Claw can be fatal with a direct hit ensuring death no matter what."

"What the devil's going on here?!" screamed an angry voice. Whipping around Naruto saw a massive dark skinned man in gold and black Kage robes, marking him as the Raikage. He wore large gold bangle bracelets on each arm along with a large belt around his waist, which had the image of a snarling boar. Before Naruto could react more people arrived at the scene each one drawing his attention, most of them Naruto had never seen before but the ones he did recognize made him freeze. Specifically the blonde woman Tsunade and her assistant Shizune who both widened their eyes when the saw him, but the one who really caused Naruto's mind to grind to a halt was the Hokage Hiruzen.

As the two of them made eye contact Naruto saw many emotions on the Hokage's face, almost like someone had walked over his grave. From absolute shock and disbelief to pure joy, as tears began to fall down the old man's cheeks Hiruzen cleared his throat and spoke. "Na...Naruto…..I'm so happy to see you again." the aged Hokage said as he tried to keep his voice from cracking.

"Jiji?" Naruto asked uncertainly, his mind slowly rebooting as he saw his only grandfather figure for the first time in years.

"Hiruzen….Tsunade is this who I think it is?" the Raikage asked seriously as he took in everything he was seeing, _especially_ his dead Ambassador. Gain8ng the attention of them both Tsunade and Hiruzen could only nod in affirmative.

"Well then boy, perhaps you would like to explain why Ambassador Seiji is _dead?"_ A asked looking pointedly at the fast dissolving corpse slumped against the wall, the large man got took note of the scowl that crossed the young Hanyou's face.

"I killed him." Naruto replied biting back the snarl that threatened to escape. "I saw him making off with that girl over there over his shoulder and gave chase, while we were fighting he even admitted that he was kidnapping her so he could sell her on the black market as a _slave._ " Naruto explained spitting out the last bit in disgust. "I was able to get a crippling blow on him when he decided to throw his sword into Hinata…..I wasn't able to save her…" he finished softly as he looked towards Hiashi who was still stroking his daughter's head.

"Hiashi…" Hiruzen spoke softly causing the weeping man to look up. "Is that what happened?" he asked gently.

"H-Hai…...I arrived…..just in time to see….that _bastard_ throw his sword at….at my daughter. The boy tried to stop it…..but…" that was all Hiashi Hyuuga, a man known for his stoic self control, could say before he broke down.

"Very well…" Hiruzen said with a sigh. "Naruto I'm going to need you to come with us now-"

"I think not!" snarled a very deep voice from nowhere, before anyone could react Kakuzu and Hitome appeared next to Naruto with their weapons drawn. Hitome whose skin was pitch black with bone white markings giving her the appearance of a Grim Reaper, had her Jashinist Scythe which was cackling with a dark unholy energy. And Kakuzu with an equally large double bladed weapon that Naruto had never seen before, which seemed to glow with a pale white light. The appearance of the two Akatsuki easily put the gathered shinobi on edge as they all readied themselves for battle, even Hiashi had snapped out of his grief enough to activate his Byakugan just in case.

"Kakuzu! Hitome! What the hell are you doing here?!" Naruto exclaimed. _"SHIT! I'm soooo fucked!"_ he thought inwardly.

" _Yep….it was nice knowing you."_ Kurama commented causing Naruto to sweatdrop.

"We could ask you the same thing dumbass!" snapped Hitome as she glared a hole through Naruto's head. "We could feel your chakra spike from from the other side of the village, what the fuck happened to 'stay put'!?"

"ENOUGH! Both of you! We'll discuss this later, right now we have to get out of here." said Kakuzu cutting off the two of them as he took in the list of shinobi in front of him, it seemed every damn famous shinobi and their mother was there tonight.

"And what makes you think we're going to allow you to leave?!" growled A, Kakashi and Darui in unison.

"Yosh! I'm sorry but I can't allow you unyouthful people to take Naruto-kun anywhere!" cried Guy as he took a classic Goken stance.

"You children couldn't stop us even if you tried…" Kakuzu said quietly before blasting them all with the full force of his KI as well as flexing his chakra to the point where the ground began to crack underneath his feet.

"Stop!" cried Hiruzen gaining everyone's attention. "I will not have a full blown battle royal between a bunch of S Rank shinobi go down in the middle of my village!" he screamed causing most of them to freeze seeing how with the exception of the two strange shinobi guarding Naruto, the rest of them actually cared about avoiding collateral damage. Looking back to the two strange shinobi Hiruzen quickly analyzed them as well as played the series of recent events back over in his mind, as he did so he began to get a sneaking suspicion at the back of his head. One he couldn't place as he thought about the man 'Kakuzu', a name that Hiruzen knew that he had heard before.

"Are you the ones who saved Naruto?" Hiruzen asked his gaze switching from Hitome to Kakazu.

"So what if we are?" Kakuzu replied stiffly as he cut off the flow of KI that was soaking the entire village, though he kept his chakra built up just in case.

"Yeah and we've been looking after him since then too no thanks to you!" Hitome snarled getting Hiruzen, Kakashi and Gai to briefly look down in shame at being reminded of their failure to protect Naruto.

"Jiji…" Naruto began. "I can't stay here….please...just let me go…" he begged causing a stab of pain to race through the old Hokage's heart.

"Are you happy at least?" Hiruzen asked getting a small nod and a smile from the young Hanyou.

"Very well…*sigh*...you two may leave with Naruto. But make no mistake this does not end here…." Hiruzen said his voice tightening back up as he addressed the two missing nin as 'The God of Shinobi'. "I _will_ have answers from you two eventually."

"You'll have to find us first." snarked Hitome who had yet to lower her weapon. "But on the off chance your heathen ass does then fine, we can talk about how we did your job over saki."

"Wait!" Naruto said as we walked over to where Hiashi was still holding Hinata. "Gomenosai Hyuuga-san, but may I please see her?" he asked while bowing low at the waist before straightening up.

" _Naruto-kun what are you thinking?"_ Kurama asked through their mental link, not liking where his train of thoughts were heading.

" _Something stupid."_ was his only response.

"Why? What are you going to do?" Hiashi asked as he tightened his hold on his now deceased daughter.

"The same thing that was done for me when _I_ died." came a very chilling response that caught all but Kakuzu and Hitome off guard. Upon hearing this a wealth of emotions played out on Hiashi's face ranging from shock and rejection, to uncertainty, to outright refusal to let go. After several moments of intense internal struggle the Hyuuga Clan Head slowly relinquished Hinata's body, taking great care Naruto held Hinata close as he backed away from everyone before gently laying her down on the ground.

"Naruto…" Kakuzu spoke gaining the young redhead's attention. "You will lose more than just your heart if you do what I think you're planning, and it will hurt more than you can imagine."

"I know."

Without another word Naruto quickly shed his shirt and coat revealing to everyone there the dozens of scars running all over his upper body, a sight that made those from Kumo and Konoha almost lose their lunches. Taking his Kukri out of its sheath Naruto made a clean cut down the front of Hinata's clothes before pulling it as open as he could, revealing her tiny body along with the large wound going through her chest. Upon seeing the naked wound Naruto paused as he was reminded of his failure to save the little girl, shaking his head he quickly got back to work. Straightening up into a kneeling position Naruto took several steadying breaths as he directed the tip of his Kukri to his own chest, knowing what was going to come next he braced himself as he began to pump obscene amounts of chakra into the blade causing it to glow dark purple. Without a word Naruto plunged the large blade into his body and ripped down opening up his chest, doing his best not to scream Naruto placed the blade down on the ground as he reached into his chest.

"Kinjutsu: **Jiongu!** " Naruto gritted out as he grabbed hold of his own heart and ripped it out, and act that caused multiple things to happen at once. For one it caused Naruto to scream at the top of his lungs, second it caused the Kumo and Konoha shinobi to move trying to intervene only for Kakuzu and Hitome intercept them.

"Stay back! He needs to finish it!" Kakuzu said causing those gathered to look at him incredulously.

"Are you insane?! He's KILLING HIMSELF!" roared Hiruzen.

"Guess again old man." spoke Hitome as she gestured with her scythe.

Looking over they were all shocked to see that Naruto was somehow alive as his chest literally stitched itself back together like nothing had happened, and in his hand he was holding a large mass of writhing black threads that were pulsing and beating causing them to come to the realization that Naruto's heart was in the center of it all. As Naruto's ragged breathing became more and more stable he used his free arm to push himself back up from his hunched over position, looking over to Hinata he gently placed the black mass on her chest on top of the wound that took her life. Almost immediately the black threads began to work as they wormed their way into Hinata's little body at a sickeningly fast and efficient pace, causing her body to jerk and writhe spasmodically every now and then. As more and more of the countless black threads disappeared inside of Hinata the deeper and deeper the core of the mass, which they had all figured out was Naruto's heart, began to 'sink' into Hinata. As those from Kumo and Konoha could only watch on in morbid shock and silence they began to notice several things, such as that for one a tinge of pink was slowly starting to return to Hinata's pale complexion. As the threads did their work they saw how some of them set to work absorbing whatever of her blood they could find be it from the ground or her clothes, even stretching themselves to 'grab it' from whatever happened to stain Naruto's and Hiashi's clothing before returning. As this continued Hinata began to slowly but surely look more healthier as the last of the threads disappeared inside of her body, as her wound began to stitch up Hinata let out a gasp as she began breathing once more. Something that caused Naruto to smile as the rest of the spectators were floored by what they were seeing, leaning over Naruto placed a small kiss on Hinata's right brow before slumping over and passing out on the ground next to the now revived sleeping girl.

Walking over Hitome put her scythe away as she gently picked up Hinata and gave her back to Hiashi before turning back to collect Naruto, holding the young Hanyou to to her chest she briefly noticed the peaceful smile on his face as he unconsciously snuggled against her chest. Standing next to Kakuzu they both shared a look knowing that after tonight they were going to have to take certain steps now that both Konoha and Kumo know that Naruto is alive, neither of them were looking forward to telling the others in about this. Looking over to the gathered shinobi who were still trying to process what they had just seen, Kakuzu raised his large weapon Silverlight up above them causing a small bubble of pale light to surround him and Hitome who was still holding Naruto.

"Don't try to follow us." Kakuzu said. "Or I promise you'll just be sending your Hunter Nin to their deaths….we'll be in touch." Before Hiruzen or A could say anything the dome of light surrounding the two Akatsuki flashed in a blinding light that forced them to look away, when the light died down the were nowhere to be seen.

In the forest outside of Konoha

There was a blinding flash of white light that lit up a small clearing next to a large river, at the center of the clearing was the shrine that had been dedicated to Naruto after his believed 'death'. As the light cleared Kakuzu and Hitome quickly embraced sandwiching an unconscious Naruto in between them, as the Jiongu threads shot out of Kakuzu they quickly wrapped around them as more and more poured out to form large bat like wings. With a mighty flap they were launched dozens of feet into the air, as Kakuzu's wings continued to beat they flew faster and faster heading North.

"Kakuzu what are we going to tell Pein?" Hitome asked as they flew through the December night sky, while it may have only been in the 60's due to Fire Country's near year round tropical climate it was only going to get colder and colder the further north the went.

"For now nothing." Kakuzu spoke as he continued to beat his wings. "First we're going to get the hell out of Fire Country while we have a chance and head for the base in Iron Country, _then_ we will tell the others." he said gaining a nod from Hitome.

"You know we can't have him hanging around us for too much longer right Kakuzu?" Hitome asked.

"I know, they'll be looking for us traveling with him." he responded as he beat his wings faster.

Back in Konoha the next morning

After the two Akatsuki had left with Naruto, Hiruzen had a hell of a time managing the chaos that came afterward. For one he had put the entire village on lockdown as he had his shinobi sweep through and then check the surrounding countryside. Then he also had to deal with the situation regarding the attempted kidnap, murder and revival of the Hyuuga heiress. The aged Hokage had all but known for sure that the entire debacle would mean war, while Tsunade bursting into his office unannounced and then punching the Kumo Ambassador could be overlooked. What happened to Hinata could not, Hiruzen had already resigned himself to the fact that Konoha would probably be going to war when the Raikage had surprised him. Offering to allow the Head of the Yamanaka Clan access into his mind that way they could truly prove Kumo's innocence, something that left Hiruzen floored before he thought it over. For one it was a gesture that had never been made before and for good reason, and another its sincerity would be beyond contestation as no one would question it. Especially when it came straight from the mouth of a Mind Walker like Inoichi, taking all of ten seconds to think It over Hiruzen quickly summoned Inoichi and had him get to work. After about 20 nerve wracking minutes both the Raikage and Inoichi came to and it was confirmed that no one from Kumo had any knowledge of the plot, with the threat of a major international incident and war out of the way they were free to search for any traces of Naruto.

While none of the shinobi that were sent out found any traces of the young Hanyou they were treated to a surprise, which came in the form of Jaraiya who arrived right as dawn was breaking. After getting the man quickly caught up to speed on all he had missed an emergency council meeting was held,, and so that was where we currently found both the Hokage and the Raikage. Both sitting side by side nursing cups of coffee as they tried to stem the headaches from the previous night, one from having a mind walker inside of his head and then putting up with his brother's poor rapping. And the other from advanced age and lack of sleep on top of last night's events, sitting on either side of them were their countries respective Daimyos who had already been filled in on what was happening. Meanwhile Jiraiya and Tsunade were leaning against the wall behind the two Kages watching as everyone who had been summoned filled up the room, many of whom quickly noticed the tired expression shared by the two Kages and their Daimyos. As well as the absence of the Hyuuga Clan Head, though no one commented on this having learned better over the past several years to wait and see.

As the last of the council sat down Hiruzen stood up to address everyone there. "I thank you all for coming on such short notice, and while I'm sure you are all aware that something happened last night I would ask that you hold all questions for now." he said before drinking some more of his coffee. " What I have to tell you pertains to Naruto Uzumaki whom we have confirmed is alive." Hiruzen began preferring to get right to the point, as expected however several people began firing off questions after the bomb had been dropped. Raising his hands Hiruzen quickly quieted the council members down before continuing, " Please! We have much that we must cover now remain silent!" he barked silencing the room almost immediately.

"*Ahem* Now as I was saying last night it was confirmed that Naruto Uzumaki is indeed alive and well, and it would appear that the unknown individuals who rescued him that night four years ago have been raising and training him since then. And while we have no clue as to who they really are we know that they are easily S Rank shinobi given that one of them appeared to be a Jashinist Priestess, while the other appeared to be just as powerful if the Killing Intent and chakra he was giving off was any indication." after the Hokage said this he could see the looks of concern and dread on many of the Shinobi Council Members faces and even on some of the Civilian Councilmen as well, while the rest had confused looks on their faces.

"Ummm excuse me Hokage-sama." asked one of the civilian members.

"Yes?"

"But could you perhaps explain to those of us who do not understand shinobi matters, just _what_ a….Jashinist Priestess is? I can understand the alarm warranted to an S Rank shinobi, but it looks like someone walked over the graves of some of the shinobi here." the councilman said before sitting back down.

"Hmmm yes I suppose that I should." replied Hiruzen thoughtfully.

"If you don't mind Hokage-dono I'll take over with explaining just what they are, after all both Kumo and Iwa had to deal with them the most in the past." interjected the Raikage A, with a nod Hiruzen took another drink of his coffee while A stood up.

"The Jashinists are a cult who follow and worship the dark god of vengeance, genocide and murder Jashin, who is also believed to be the brother of the Shinigami and the husband of Yami. They believe human life itself to be a sin and that every person they murder is a prayer to their deity, it is for their beliefs that they can't be bought, reasoned, bullied, intimidated, or negotiated with. Their religion gives them the drive to become expert killers easily on par with most Jounin level shinobi, and on top of it all they discovered a method of true immortality through their religion." A explained much to the shock and horror of those gathered. "Some time before the Third Shinobi War is when they first arrived in the Elemental Nations, they made a small settlement somewhere in the mountains of Iron Country from where they would eventually strike out from. Sending their own on 'pilgrimages' all throughout the Nations slaughtering people as they went, though never anyone from Iron Country. Something about not wanting to be rude to their hosts as it would be 'bad manners', eventually things got so bad that within 3 years the Jashinists forced history to be made." the massive man prompting one of the other council women to stand up.

"Gomenasai Raikage-sama, but what do you mean by history being made?" she asked.

"What he means…" said Danzo as he stood up. "Is that for the first time in history 3 of the 5 Great Villages worked together towards a common goal, the goal being the annihilation of the Jashinist Priests and Priestesses. The only time where something like that has ever happened, and it was _still_ almost impossible to pull off due to the most powerful of them being immortal. After the others were slaughtered we got down to the last ones that were still standing which just so happened to be the ones who were immortal, there were 9 of them in total. The few of us that remained corralled them together so that old Onoki could Vaporize them, afterwards everyone involved had to spend the next few years being treated for severe PTSD."

"I remember that…" spoke Inoichi as he stood up to address the room. "When my father was still alive and the Clan Head he had been on that campaign, he and the few surviving clan members were some of the smartest men alive and even they couldn't describe what they had seen. They began a practice of showing others those specific memories as a form of shock training, in order to strengthen the mind as well as give truly valuable insight on what its like to be a mental trauma victim. Those of us have actually _have_ those memories stored away still use them on people in the T&I department as a form of torture, believe me when I say that everything that Raikage-sama and Danzo-sama have said is merely the watered down version."

"Yes that's all good and all but what about the other one?" asked the Lighting Daimyo.

"I have searched through all of my archives and I have come up with almost nothing Daimyo-sama, all I could find were reports made by the Shodaime Hokage over the assassin that had tried to take his life. _That_ man had also gone by the name 'Kakuzu' and from the what Hashirama had written in his journal the man had fought on par with him easily, the battle had forced him to use one of his most powerful jutsus while in Sage Mode. Their battle was something that created one of the largest rivers in all of Fire Country, and according to the Shodaime was the assassin's final resting place." Hiruzen replied gaining looks of surprise from some of the less history savvy individuals in the room.

"Could he be the same man from all those years ago?" asked the Fire Daimyo.

"I don't think so…." Hiruzen said with a sigh. "But if he is then that would make him the oldest active shinobi in the world, he would have to be in his mid 70's at least. If he survived Hashirama going all out with nothing held back then that would make him a more difficult person to kill than even my old student Orochimaru."

"Hokage-sama." said Fugaku standing up. "What are we to do about all of this?"

"We are going to keep a very sharp eye out for Naruto with standing orders to all shinobi to not engage should they spot him, and merely follow him and track his movements as long as he is within Fire Country. Given what he went through I highly doubt bringing him back to Konoha would be a good idea, and seeing how he was able to kill a borderline S rank shinobi I don't want him to have a mental meltdown in the middle of the village. And then use whatever training he's had on everything around him, for now we will keep an eye on him whenever possible." the Hokage answered. "Now that's all there is for now so this meeting shall be adjourned." Without another word Hiruzen, A, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and both of the Daimyos left heading towards the Hokage Office, meanwhile Fugaku narrowed his eyes as he watched the retreating backs of of the Hokage and his entourage.

" _So the little shit survived after all? I'll just have to take certain steps of my own then…"_ the Uchiha thought to himself as he headed for his office at the Uchiha Police Headquarters.

Several days later

Naruto was currently strapped to a bed crying pathetically in despair, after he had lost consciousness he unfortunately had to deal with a _seriously pissed off_ Kurama who had taken it upon herself to beat him to a bloody pulp within his own damn mind. Which meant that he also had to deal with a massive headache ever since he woke up, and then there was Kakuzu and Hitome who both spent a total of 10 hours screaming at him and beating the shit out of him in what they had called 'training'. After _somehow_ surviving the 'Training from Hell' as he affectionately referred to it he had to spend the last 5 days strapped to a bed so that he could 'heal', meaning so that he could be bored to death, and all the while Ryuk of all people spent the entire time making jokes at his expense. To say that at that moment all Naruto wanted to do was die at that moment would be an understatement, they wouldn't even let him eat ramen for the rest of the month! The horror…

Though as bad as things were going for Naruto they were much worse for Kakuzu and Hitome, as they were currently in a meeting with the other Akatsuki members via the special rings they all wore. To say that they were all furious beyond all measure would be similar to saying the surface of the sun was nice and toasty, it was only thanks to Kakuzu's careful thinking and planning over the last several days that things miraculously did not get out of hand.

"And just _why_ did you wait till now tell us all of this?!" snarled Zetsu.

"Better question why the FUCK did you let Naruto-kun _cut out his own heart_?!" screamed Konan who if she was being honest with herself had actually never been so angry before in her life.

"Speak quickly fools!" Orochimaru all but screamed.

" **SHUT IT!"** screamed Hitome causing everyone to abruptly come to halt in whatever it was they were about to say next. "Okay in order we had to get out of Fire Country before we got caught and find a safe place and then make sure Naruto was going to be alright, second ask Kakuzu about that but come on you should know by now next to me the bastard's almost unkillable. And finally shut the fuck up cause this wasn't our fault especially when we told Naruto to stay put while we spoke to our source in the Golden Company, and besides we gotta plan." she finished glaring at the other members.

"Ohhh? And pray tell just _what_ is that plan?" responded Pein who was doing everything he could to remain calm but was slowly failing.

"Pei Mei." Kakuzu said simply as if those two simple words were the answer to all of the problems in the world. There was a pregnant silence that filled the air as all of the other Akatsuki sent confused glances to one another, after a few moments Pein had enough.

"Explain." ordered Pein.

"My old master Pei Mei lives in seclusion in the Iron Temple of the Sky, which is deep within the mountains of Iron Country. It's the main reason why we came to the base we have here, no one bothers Pei Mei and for good reason. Even the samurai have standing orders to never bother him under pain of death, he is without a doubt one of the most easily offended men I have ever met. And has been known to kill for something as minor as sneezing in the wrong direction, if he accepts then we won't have to worry about Naruto for at least a year and by then he'll be old enough to travel solo while working on bounties for us." Kakazu explained gaining many raised eyebrows from the Akatsuki.

"And just why would I want you to let the Kyuubi Jinchuriki go so easily? Especially after I've had you two raised him for the last four years?" Pein asked in a calm tone that bellayed his sour mood.

"Because now all of Konoha and Kumo will be looking for Naruto traveling with a man and a woman matching our description, at least being separated like this will allow us to remain in control of the situation." Hitome explained. "Having him somewhere where no one can find him for a year or so will get both villages to stop actually looking for him, and by then like Ero-Musha said he'll be old enough to be by himself."

"I told you to stop calling me that…" growled Kakuzu as Kisame snickered at the insulting nickname Hitome had given him.

Pein closed his eyes in contemplation as he thought over the situation, this was easily one of the worst scenarios that he had hoping to avoid. He had really been hoping to keep Naruto's identity as well as the fact he was alive a secret, at least till the Akatsuki were ready to hunt down the other Jinchuriki. But he had known to expect trouble of some kind when they had taken the risk of sending Kakuzu and Hitome to Konoha with Naruto, the news that their informant possessed had simply come at the worst time. In the end loathe as he was to admit they had simply wound up on the receiving end of Murphy's Law, and it wasn't a total loss since they were at least able obtain the information they needed. And it also helped that Kakuzu's plan had merit if nothing else, keeping his best pair of bounty hunters held up raising a child was sorely taxing on their organization. It had put most of their plans either on hold or were scrapped altogether when regarding those two, this could free them up altogether while at the same time solving the problem over what to do with Naruto. Still he would need a bit more information before making a decision, he was _not_ about to lose Naruto over simple incompetence.

"Tell me more about this…..Pei Mei. You are quite old yourself Kakuzu are you sure he is even alive?" Pein asked.

"Yes I'm sure, the man discovered a way to keep from dying of old age a long time ago." Kakuzu stated drawing the attention of Orochimaru, it was no secret that the one thing the man longed for was immortality.

"Oh? And how did he accomplish that?" asked the snake summoner.

"By being the first person to ever murder another individual, apparently the gods didn't appreciate this and cursed him. Since then he has been teaching those he finds worthy in the art of killing, as well as being the founder of all Martial Arts. In fact the last student he had was Master Chen of Konohagakure, before that was myself." answered Kakuzu gaining surprised looks from his fellow Akatsuki members.

"Hmmmm…..Very well, take the Jinchuriki to be trained by this Pei Mei and then begin making your way to Kusagakure." instructed Pein. "When Naruto is finished training Kisame and Orochimaru will rendezvous with him, after giving him the supplies that will be prepared in advance they will asses him." he said gaining nods of affirmation from the two sword wielding Akatsuki.

"This meeting is now adjourned." Pein said prompting the others to disconnect and disappear. When all but Pein and Konan were left he looked over to his long time and only remaining friend, though the change had been very subtle over the past few years he had certainly noticed the fondness that Konan had developed for the young Hanyou.

"Konan…." he began gaining her attention. "I know you have developed a liking for the child, but you must remember that he is ultimately a means to an end for peace." he said causing her to stiffen ever so slightly.

"He's more than just that Nagato-kun, he's also your family." replied Konan as her gaze softened. "I know that we're going to have to do horrible things in order to obtain peace and I have accepted that, but there has to be a limit Nagato. Otherwise we'll be no better than Hanzo or that bastard Danzo, would you really have us stoop to their low? And kill your own family?" she asked causing Pein's eyes to widen before his face was collected back into an emotionless mask.

"It doesn't matter if we share a surname Konan, gods do not have families." he replied sternly. "And I will not let anything as trivial as family stop me from achieving our goals of peace."

"Nagato." Konan said walking over to him. "You can lie to everyone in the world and even yourself…but don't think for a second that you can lie to me and you are NO god." said Konan with a small smile. "Especially after all the times I had to wipe your ass after you lost the use of your legs." she added near the end.

Pein had the decency to blush at this, as he was reminded of a time where he had to rely heavily on Konan for most of the basic of functions. Looking away for a moment he quickly tried to compose himself, he was stopped however as he felt Konan's soft hand come into contact with his left cheeks and gently guide his face towards hers. After a few moments of holding his gaze she spoke, "There are other ways of going about bringing peace Nagato, and slaughtering the only family you have left in this world is not the way." letting her hand fall to her side Konan left her friend alone to think about what she had said.

In the mountains of Iron Country

Naruto was freezing as he clutched his cloak closer to his body and lightly channeled Katon chakra throughout his body, they had been travelling at a good pace for the last 3 days almost non-stop. The talk he had had with Kakuzu and Hitome had not been a pleasant one at all as they discussed what they were going to need to do thanks to the incident in Konoha, and while Naruto had indeed felt bad about putting Kakuzu and Hitome as well as the rest of the Akatsuki in a tough position, he still would have made the same choices all over again. They were now in the North Western reaches of Iron Country and the mountain that Naruto's next possible guardian resided in was now finally in sight, what stuck out about it was that it was the fact that the entire mountain had been used for the Iron Temple. The temple being built into the face of the mountain with massive windows cut into the rest of the mountain for air to pass through, meaning that the mountain had been hollowed out. With the temple being sunk into the mountain the way it was it was protected from all sides from the wind and even the top most part of the mountain peak had been turned into a massive lighthouse, one thing that had Naruto and even Hitome confused however had been the large stone 'tube' that ran down the side of the mountain starting from the lighthouse.

Before either Naruto or Hitome could ask about the tube's purpose Kakuzu came to an abrupt halt and immediately began going through hand signs, getting into ready positions and preparing for a possible fight they were surprised by what happened next. As Kakuzu called out "Katon: Laughing Budha!" and then spat out a massive gout of fire that quickly took the shape of a fat Budha, the Budha stood over 100 feet tall and was holding its belly as it let out a loud jovial laugh. Afterwards it quickly dissipated having done nothing other than announce their presence to anyone that was in the area, without a word Kakuzu began walking once more with Naruto and Hitome in tow who both began to pester the man with questions. Questions that were cut short after several minutes as deep thunderous horn was blown, looking over to the temple in the distance their previous questions were answered. As snow was been knocked off and blown away from the massive stone tube that ran almost the entire length of the mountain, the sound it produced being so loud that it caused an avalanche to occur on one of the other mountains to the east. It was a horn, a massive horn the likes of which neither Naruto or Hitome had ever seen.

Looking back at Naruto's and Hitome's gobsmacked faces Kakuzu had a rare moment and openly laughed gaining their attention, ignoring their irate faces he spoke. "That was 'The Horn of Kami', something that Pei Mei has always been very proud of. Welcome to the Iron Temple." he said with a small chuckle as he turned around and continued walking towards the mountain.

Meanwhile at the Shinobi Police Headquarters of Konoha

Fugaku was sitting at his desk in his main office slowly flipping through the files that he had, after the events of the previous week he and the rest of the police force had been working round the clock. Fugaku himself had been in and out of several meetings with not only the Hokage and Hiashi Hyuuga, but also with Tsunade who had been looking after little Hinata since she was admitted into the hospital. Despite his personal distaste in the woman even he had to give the last Senju the credit that she deserved, even after not being an active shinobi for many years now she hadn't lost her touch in the slightest. As she was keeping him as well as the Hokage and the rest of the shinobi up to date on all of her findings regarding Hinata, and the things that Tsunade had been discovering where as alarming as the should be impossible. As it stood the little four year old had more chakra than most newly minted Jounin, something that had been confirmed by himself and Hiashi using their respective bloodlines. And in regards to the black threads that now comprised a large part of Hinata's body, they seemed to be sentient at some level as they actually recognized chakra that could heal Hinata and helped to speed up the process. Working something like a symbiote the 'Jiongu' did everything it could to keep its host alive and in top health which had Hiashi and his wife Hana relieved to hear, while dealing with the fallout from that Fugaku had also used it as a way to further his own agenda.

He had suspected for the past few years that someone would eventually start to secretly investigate both himself and the rest of the Uchiha Police Force, wondering if one of them might be the 'Ghost'. So a year ago Fugaku began secretly having 'counseling sessions' with Inoichi Yamanaka so that he might have an outlet to 'relieve some of the stress from the case', all while officially being under the guise of working to get a proper mental profile on the serial rapist. Fugaku had been rather proud of that as it would no doubt reach the Hokage's ears and anyone who could suspect him, after all being charged with maintaining order within the village and having someone like 'The Ghost' elude capture for so long will stress anyone out. And in another stroke of genius had even spent the last 6 months talking to the Uchiha Elders, as well as the Heads of the Inuzuka and Hyuuga Clans in order to begin integrating their clan members into the squads on his police force. After the events of last week Fugaku had all the ammunition he needed to get the green light from Hiruzen, and had been going through files on all of the members of the Inuzuka and Hyuuga Clans that had been submitted for consideration ever since.

As he continued to flip through the files in front of him he paused as he received the memories from one of his Shadow Clones that he had sent out earlier that night, as the memories played back inside his mind he couldn't help the erection he got as images of a crying Anko Mitarashi flashed through his head. He had always wanted to fuck her but had known that after what she had gone through with Orochimaru that he would have to be very patient due to the sheer threat that she posed, and as luck would have it she had managed to train herself into exhaustion in Training Ground 44 just as his clone had been passing by. As he looked up at the clock on his wall he figured he would have about an hour before Anko was found, and so unzipping his pants Fugaku took his hard member out and began stroking it as he thought of her and several of his latest victims. He had managed over the last year alone to assault some of the most high profile individuals in the village, from members of the Inuzuka, the Nara, the Kurama, and Hyuuga Clans to even some of the wives of the Clan Heads themselves! Such as Shikaku Nara's wife Yoshino and Uroko Kurama the wife of the Kurama Clan Head, as the memories of those assaults flashed through his mind he thought of how he had attacked his son Itachi only months ago. It had been more of a spur of the moment assault that thankfully happened under perfect conditions, he had spent several hours abusing his son Itachi before he had been sated. As those thoughts flew through the sick man's head he began to work his shaft harder and faster, as he remembered how he made his own son eventually begin to moan underneath him and even buck his hips in response to what was happening. Fugaku let out a bark like grunt as he came into his hand after his thoughts had turned to Naruto, and the fun he had had at the little demon's expense. Breathing raggedly Fugaku cleaned himself off as he thought about the Hanyou's reemergence, he had hoped and even thought for the last several years that the little brat was dead. But Fate it seemed had other plans for the little shit but it was no matter, because in the end Naruto would have to come to Konoha again if he wanted to accuse him and that would simply give him the chance he would need to finish what he had began all those years ago. As he sat back down at his desk Fugaku sensed an incoming presence in the form of an ANBU wearing a Dolphin mask, the Anbu in question wore the standard ANBU uniform and had his brown hair in a ponytail. The only other identifying things about him was the double bladed short spear that was strapped across his back from left shoulder to right hip, while at the same time having a very beautiful katana strapped across his back allowing him to draw from his right shoulder with his right hand. Fugaku had heard about the recent addition to the ANBU Corps., a young shinobi who was quickly making waves as being just as gifted with Suiton along with barrier jutsus as Hatake Kakashi was with Raiton and his stolen Sharingan.

Looking at the man Fugaku decided to get down to business already knowing what the visit was about. "What is it Dolphin?"

"Fugaku-san there has been another attack tonight perpetrated by 'The Ghost', this time it was unfortunately Anko Mitarashi." reported the young ANBU in an emotionless voice. "I discovered her while on a routine sweep throughout the training grounds and quickly took her to the hospital, she is now in the care of Tsunade Senju and her assistant Shizune Kato."

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention Dolphin, if you haven't already then make sure you alert the Hokage to this and tell him that he will find me at the hospital debriefing Ms. Mitarashi." replied Fugaku as he quickly stood up and began to gather his papers as well several other items that he would need.

"Hai." Without another word Dolphin Shunshinned out of the office to do as he was instructed.

Fugaku couldn't help the smirk that graced his face as he finished gathering up his things, it was all just too damn easy at this point for him. He'd go dormant again for about another year of so after tonight before starting up again, allowing him to focus on keeping up appearances and making sure to leave behind a perfect trail for others to follow. Maybe he'd even take up smoking as well as a few other vices such as drinking in some of the Jounin Bars, afterall have to make it look like all of it was getting to him right? A public meltdown here….a bar fight there….get into _just_ enough trouble with the Hokage that the old man forces him off the case for a while. Who knows maybe the old monkey will force him on a mandatory vacation?! HA! Now that would be something, as Fugaku turned off the lights to his office he quickly schooled his features before leaving. Never once noticing the small beetle that had watching him for that last several hours, making a few soft hums the small insect crawled through a hole in the wall that it had made before flying off to its master.

 **Aaannnd I'm Done! Not gonna lie I had FUN writing this chapter, took a while but it was well worth it in the end. I went ahead and added Pei Mei because I always thought the dude was fucking badass, awesome and just fucking hilarious. If any of you have seen Kill Bill Vol. 2 then you know what I'm talking about, because that whole part involving him never gets old for me. Now that entire part with Hinata getting killed was actually very difficult for me to write especially having her father Hiashi see it happen in perfect X-RAY clarity, writing all of that left me emotionally drained and I'm not gonna lie it had me crying a bit while I was writing it. BUT I did this for several reasons, see for one this will create a very unique bond between Naruto and Hinata seeing how not only will she also have the Jiongu but will LITERALLY HAVE NARUTO'S HEART. Which means that Naruto at some level will always be able to sense when Hinata is under intense emotional stress, *Note: Remember this little tidbit because it will come up again later!***

 **Two this will lead to not only Hinata having a powerful Suiton affinity on par with the Nindaime Hokage Tobirama Senju, but she will also have a secondary affinity for Raiton seeing how Naruto's primary affinity was Raiton when he gave her his heart. This also means that Hinata will yes be able to gain affinities for the other elements by obtaining the appropriate hearts, but she will use her gifts in other ways as she will mostly be an up close and personal fighter.**

 **Three Hinata will of course suffer from nightmares over this for several years but thanks to having support from her family, she will get over that particular hump before she even graduates from the Shinobi Academy.**

 **Four Hinata will still maintain most of the adorable shyness that she is known for but she will also be more bold, and hyper due to her condition. You all have to remember Naruto GAVE HER HIS HEART, so imagine ALL OF THAT EXTRA CHAKRA flowing through the small body of a little girl. She's going to be an extremely hyper ball of perpetual energy that drives her parents and most of the Hyuuga clan crazy, she won't get in trouble for most of the shit she does though cause at the end of the day the know she literally can't help it. She's basically going to have an extreme case of ADHD till she grows up enough that her body can handle all the extra energy and is thus able to calm down.**

 **Five, because of what Hiashi witnessed that night it will change his entire outlook on many things. For one he will train to as equally an obsessive amount as Might Gai does, which means that by the time the Wave Arc kicks off he's going to be WAY MORE POWERFUL than originally was in the cannon series. Making himself stronger so that he can protect his family from ever coming into harm like that, and not feeling so powerless ever again.**

 **Six, Hiashi will also be much more affectionate with his daughters than he ever was in the cannon. After losing Hinata and then somehow getting her back that will have a VERY profound effect on the man, and it will show in how he conducts himself as a parent because he'll be damned if he loses either of them ever again. To the point where not even the Hyuuga Elders will have the balls to say anything about his kids when he's around, as he will also have those decrepit old fossils under his thumb for the most part.**

 **Seven, another reason why I wrote that up like that was so that way the Hokage Hiruzen as well as the Raikage A could see for themselves just what was done to save Naruto's life that night when he was kidnapped, tortured and raped. They won't really understand what the fuck the Jiongu is but they will know that it is something to be feared and respected, if it can bring someone back to life then what can it do in terms of combat?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Akuma Sannin**

 **First I'd like to say sorry for the wait on this chapter everyone, I wound up with a lot of things on my plate lately. And on top of all of that I also started online class with DeVry University on April 30th which kinda took up all of my attention, BUT I got my shit handled so enjoy!**

 **Ok to all of those who may be curious as to why I put in that last part about Fugaku at the end of the previous chapter, I did this for several reasons. For one so that I can really show just what type of impact a guy like Fugaku is going to have on Konoha, who mind you is a Grade A textbook Psychopath. Who is not only incredibly skilled and also powerful, but is also in the perfect position where he can get away with all of it. The part about what he did to his own son Itachi was used to drive home the fact that Fugaku is absolutely amoral, and will also have the bonus benefit of making Fugaku look more like a heavily suffering family man who's trying to deal with the stress from catching an uncatchable serial rapist. It all just continues to work in his favor despite all of the damage going on around him, and even though there may be an Aburame or two keeping tabs on him it's not like jerking off in the privacy of one's office is suspicious. If anything it probably just makes Fugaku look more like any other human, one who was just trying to work off a little bit of stress.**

 **Another reason for adding in the overview of Fugaku's more recent victims was because for one I have certain plans for Anko, and especially the ANBU that found her and helped her. But also for the Clan Heads whose wives were assaulted, what kind of a fire do you think that's going to light under their asses? And how do you think that will affect them and how they raise their kids like Shikamaru or Choji? And how are those kids going to react when they finally find out what happened to their mothers? And for those of you who don't know who Uroko Kurama is just look it up because her daughter is VERY special even back in the Cannon Series, hey when you're capable of bringing literal illusions to life and making them real literally ANYTHING is possible.**

Hiruzen sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, he had spent the last week and a half in utter hell it seemed. After the events that took place where it was revealed that Naruto was indeed alive, and then seeing him that same night standing over the corpse of the Kumo Ambassador had taken its toll on the aged leader. And then afterwards had to deal with the fallout of telling the Shinobi and Civilian Council's what had happened, had left Hiruzen smoking through most of his weed….er... _smoking tobacco_ in under a week when it was supposed to last him a month. The latest assault perpetrated by the Ghost on Anko Mitarashi had somehow been the proverbial icing on the cake, though it had hurt Hiruzen deeply to see Anko the way he did he had been relieved to see that it hadn't broken her. Painful as it was to admit but Orochimaru's teachings along with what he had done to her had ensured that she would bounce back eventually, the only good news that had come had arrived just yesterday after Anko and Itachi had talked to one another. Apparently after a couple of hours of talking they had both confirmed that whoever had attacked them had not only been powerful, but was also a Sharingan user. This news had been the greatest breakthrough that anyone had had in finding the Ghost, and what was more they had gone over to talk to one of the other victims of the Ghost just to make sure. After talking to the wife of the Kurama Clan Head, Uroko Kurama, about their theories the Genjutsu Mistress had confirmed with them that the illusion could only have come from a Dojutsu based Kekkai Genkai such as the Sharingan.

This raised many concerns as this meant that he would have to tread lightly when dealing with the matter, it was troubling enough that the Inuzuka, the Aburame, and the Nara clan heads all believe the Ghost to be someone from the Uchiha Police Force. And had been subtly keeping tabs on those within the organization as well as the entirety of the Uchiha Clan, but this latest development all but confirmed all of their suspicions. All in all Hiruzen could honestly say that he was NOT looking forward to having to tell this to Sibi, Okami, or Shikaku, the aged Hokage could already feel the collective 'I told you so' that was sure to come from them. After sharing this news with Danzo they had both quickly agreed to keep this news buried between themselves, Anko, Itachi and the few others that they could trust. Now that they knew to look for an Uchiha member they would need to be very selective with what they said in front of Fugaku, as well as making sure they didn't appear to distrust him less he get suspicious.

Looking over at the other two men in his office Hiruzen quickly recounted what had been going on since 9 a.m. that morning, it had started over coffee with himself and several other people that he felt he needed to be there. With Danzo, Shikaku, as well as his wife Koharu and Homura were there, he had also called in Fugaku Uchiha, Okami Inuzuka and his wife Tsume. They had all gathered to hear the testimony of Teuchi Ichiraku who was telling them all of the time that Naruto had spent at his ramen stand the night he showed up, the man had gone to great lengths to remember everything that he could for them. Covering as much as he could about what the little Hanyou had told him and his daughter, it had been much to their chagrin to learn that he had been in Northern River Country no more than a days fast travel away the entire time. That particular bit of news had Okami and Tsume barking out in laughter and even Danzo couldn't help the chuckle that escaped, the ramen chef/councilman also went on to describe how Naruto had been cared for and 'raised' which had the blood of everyone in the room run cold. Especially when Teuchi explained what he knew about the two S Rank shinobi that had been looking after him along with what he could remember Naruto saying that he had learned from his guardians, this had led to several questions coming from the shinobi gathered that took several minutes to answer. What had truly scared them all however had been when Teuchi told them of the Kyuubi, or Kurama as _she_ preferred to be called. When Tsume Inuzuka had learned that the most powerful creature in the world was a woman, she proceeded to copy what Ayame had done before high fiving Koharu who had a likewise pleased expression on her face. Despite that it was still terrifying for them to all learn that Naruto had been in near constant contact with the demoness, along with the fact that she appeared to truly care for Naruto and was fiercely protective of him. And had been taking care of him from within her seal ever since the night of his disappearance, going to great lengths to help him recover from his ordeal.

That had raised more questions as Fugaku had begun questioning Teuchi asking about what he had noticed about Kurama, whether or not she was possibly manipulating him, as well as whether or not Naruto had said anything about his attacker that got away. Hiruzen and Danzo paid close attention at this point looking for any signs or tells, the only thing they found was utter frustration on Fugaku's face as Teuchi told him how they hadn't had a chance to get to that before Naruto had rushed out of their stand. Afterward Fugaku excused himself stating how he didn't believe he would be needed any further and that he needed a drink, soon after the rest of those gathered began to excuse themselves for various reasons. Okami and Tsume had decided to head to River Country and maybe pick up any lingering scents, and Shikaku had to go and see to his wife Yoshino who was still in recovery. At long last it was just the three of them as Homura and Koharu had gone to speak with some of the councilmen over what had been discussed just moments ago, taking a puff from his pipe he looked over to Danzo and made a subtle cue which the mummified man picked up on.

"Here." Danzo said as he fished a small scroll out from within his robes and handed it to Teuchi, who gave it a confused glance before accepting it.

Clearing his throat Hiruzen spoke. "Our Hunter Nin have picked up the trail of Hiruko once again, who seems to have resurfaced and was spotted East in the Lion Empire." he said causing the ramen chef to freeze before an uncharacteristic look of pure malice and hatred spread across his face.

"Is our deal still on?" Teuchi asked as he briefly skimmed through the scroll in his hands.

"Yes, it is." Hiruzen answered.

"Good." With that Teuchi rolled up the scroll and stuffed it in his pocket as he stood up and headed for the door. "I'll be teaching my daughter our tribe's ways soon…" he said coming to a stop at the door. "Remember our deal…" with that he left.

Looking over at his longtime rival Danzo spoke, "You really should have killed him Hiruzen, I still don't understand why you let him live let alone allowed him to live in Konoha."

"Don't play stupid Danzo, you know why." Hiruzen answered tiredly before taking another puff of his pipe.

In the mountains of Iron Country

As Kakuzu and Hitome made their way South towards Kusagakure, Hitome had begun a near constant assault of questions, which Kakuzu was doing his best to ignore. Cracking his neck Kakuzu rolled his stiff and heavily bruised shoulders as he trudged through the snow, he had known that Pai Mei would attack as soon as he showed up which was why he had left the others at the foot of the mountain before continuing. Rotten old bastard still hit like a meteor after all these years, while they had been fighting Kakuzu had made sure to tell his former master why he had returned. Something that had caused Pai Mei to attack with even more ferocity if that was even possible, in the end the old man had acquiesced when Kakuzu managed to land a small glancing blow on his shoulder. It had barely been a scrape of Kakuzu's fingers but was more than enough for Pie Mei, especially since they both knew that was more than anyone else had ever accomplished.

As the semi-immortal man trudged on ignoring Hitome's now comic antics to get his attention, he entertained himself with the knowledge of what Naruto was going to go through. That boy thought he and Hitome had been rough with him, Ha!, that boy was going to learn just how good he had had it.

" _That brat is going to have fun carrying buckets of water up all of those steps…"_ Kakuzu thought with a chuckle as he looked back at the mountain, and the thousands of stone steps that led from the bottom all the way to the top where the temple sat.

"KAKUZUUUUUU!" screamed Hitome directly into his ear causing him to punch her on pure instinct. "Ow! That hurt you ass!" she yelled as she rubbed her left cheek.

"What do you want _now?"_ Kakuzu growled as he wiggled his pinky finger around in his ear, in a vain attempt to stave off the ringing he was hearing.

"I said 'Why do you look like you just got done being someone's punching bag'?" Hitome asked with a huff.

"Because the same man who used to abuse the Sage of Six Paths for fun is now doing the same thing to Naruto, and the best part is I know all too well what that rotten old bastard is going to do to him." Kakuzu answered with an air of utter satisfaction. "Now come on, I want to get out of here before we get caught in a blizzard." And with that the two Akatsuki took off at a fast pace both wanting to reach the warmer climate of Grass Country, both looking forward to the small vacation from dealing with the trouble making Jinchuriki.

Meanwhile in Canada

The ursine creature squeezed its eyes shut in pain as the pressure reached critical mass, and then much to its relief the pressure released itself as liquid shit shot out of its ass onto a still sleeping camper. Covering the poor bastard and his wife in the 'Wave of Goodness' the bear gave a shudder of relief and satisfaction before walking back to its cave, the cries and yells of the noisy campers being music to the bear's ears. **(lolz sorry guys...I had too XD)**

At the Iron Temple of the Sky

Naruto gritted his teeth as he fought through the burning pain in his legs and lower back, after Kakuzu and Hitome had arrived at the foot of the mountain Kakuzu had left them so that he could go up and speak with the man who lived there. They had been surprised when Kakuzu finally returned looking like he had just come out of a war, the man was bleeding from a small gash above his brow and his clothes were slightly torn in some places allowing Naruto and Hitome to see bruised flesh. The man simply ignored all of their questions and quickly shushed them, saying that Pai Mei had agreed to take Naruto on as an apprentice. After giving Naruto a few pieces of advice the two Akatsuki left though Hitome still stayed behind long enough to ruffle Naruto's hair before leaving, turning to the seemingly endless steps Naruto began the long trek up. After finally reaching the top Naruto turned around to take in the breathtaking view before him of the valley and surrounding mountain ranges, a view that Kurama and Ryuk both commented on as utterly beautiful.

After nodding in agreement Naruto turned towards the temple and continued walking, as he did he noticed how for some strange reason it was beginning to get much warmer. As Naruto pressed onward he saw several Cherry Blossom trees that had an ancient feel to them dotting the grounds, there were various yet simple weapon racks here and there along with several training devices that all possessed a used look to them. All in all it was a very beautiful garden and training area with various plants and shrubs dotting it, everywhere Naruto looked he could see evidence of someone who had cared for it for ages. And there sitting in a meditative pose at the end of the main walkway was a clearly ancient man, one whom Naruto automatically assumed was Pai Mei. The man had pure white hair which was held up in a folded bun by a large hair pin, with strands of hair falling down to frame his face near his ears. He had a pair of impressively large eyebrows that were the same type of white as his hair and looked to be perfectly groomed, the man also possessed a long flowing Fu ManChu beard/goatee that came down to his chest. His robes were of the finest silk, being pure white robes with a pitch black sleeveless kimono. As Naruto briefly looked the man up and down he could sense pure raw power rolling off of the ancient man almost like tidal waves, from what Naruto could sense it seemed to not only come from him but also from Nature itself which was flowing around and through him. Despite the absolute calm appearance that he had, Naruto could tell that the man before him was no one to be trifled with.

Following Kakuzu's advice Naruto knelt down with one knee on the ground, bowing his head towards his master he spoke. "Master."

With a snap Pai Mei's dark eyes opened, looking down at the young Hanyou he addressed his new student with all of the respect he could muster. "Hmpf! It took you long enough to arrive, I was beginning to think you'd never show your face!" he said with a scoff as he quickly raked his eyes up and down Naruto's form. "Hahahaha! You can not possibly be a half demon, you look more like a little girl's plushy!" he said with a laugh as he stroked his beard causing a tick mark to appear on Naruto forehead.

"Oh Ho! Your anger amuses me." Pai Mei said with a chuckle. I must confess that I was surprised to see my old pupil, especially after all these years. And then again when he told me how he had taken a Hanyou as his apprentice, I just wish he had told me I would be dealing with a prepubescent little shit!" he said yelling at the end before standing up. With a simple hand gesture from the aged man Naruto stood up as well, Pai Mei then began to circle around the boy sizing him up as he went.

"Hmmmm I suppose I should be grateful that you are not unschooled, I can clearly see Kakuzu's training in your build and posture." he noted as he continued his inspection.

"Hai Master, Kakuzu-sensei trained me-" before Naruto could say anything else he was viciously backhanded and sent to the ground. The strike had come so fast that Naruto's brain wasn't even able to register that he had been hit at all for a few seconds, as the numbing pain quickly set in Naruto deftly relocated his jaw before looking back up to the stern face of Pai Mei.

"You are not to speak unless spoken to Plushy!" Pai Mei yelled controlled anger clear on his face, scoffing he went back to stroking his beard. "Do not believe for an instant that that blow was the worst that you shall receive, I was merely going easy on you because you are still a child." he said in a more moderate tone.

Naruto wordlessly bowed his head showing that he understood and wouldn't make the same mistake again, as this exchange was going on Ryuk was watching intently memorizing everything he could.

Stroking his beard Pai Mei continued. "As I was saying I'm fortunate enough that you have obviously received prior training, and from one of my finer students no less…" he said with a stroke of his beard. "Hmmm you remind me of a former student of mine, though thank Buddha you're not a blonde like she was. Damn pain in my ass that one…" he muttered near the end.

"What you demonstrate next will ultimately affect what your lessons shall be, so you had better impress me lest I decide to simply cast you out."

"Yes Master." Naruto responded adopting a loose stance.

"Hmpf...good. Now show me what you are capable of, and we'll see if your Kanjo Tekina Ikari and Rokushiki can even touch me." Pai Mei said not even bothering to change his stance other than extant his hand in a claw like manner.

" _Naruto-kun remember that this is the man who manhandled Kakuzu…"_ Kurama warned. _"Remember your training and do your best, show him everything you're capable of!"_ she said cheering him on at the end.

" _Gaki….give him everything you've got, and don't be afraid to use your chakra against him."_ said Ryuk gaining the attention of both demons. Very seldom did Ryuk ever give out advice so easily, and whenever he did it was best to heed his advice. Nodding to the two beings in his head Naruto refocused his eyes on his opponent, quickly formulating a plan he sprang into action.

As unbridled rage filled every fiber of his being Naruto slammed his foot down on the ground causing a small crater to form, the force of the stomp sending Naruto flying towards Pai Mei. At the last minute Naruto muttered "Geppou." and jumped off of the air itself to the left of Pai Mei, spinning in mid air Naruto cried out "Rankyaku: Gaichou!" performing a spinning side kick. As he did the chakra that he had stored in his leg flew off towards Pai Mei in the shape of a large bird, deftly dodging the attack Pai Mei landed several feet away from where the attack struck causing a large chunk of the ground to be destroyed. As Naruto landed the rage he felt was already gone replaced entirely by complete and utter serenity causing a look of calmness to appear on his face, adopting a very lucid and relaxed stance Naruto pressed on with his assault. As a ghostly apparition of Naruto appeared behind Pai Mei Naruto sprang into action by letting out a punch, releasing a burst of chakra as he did so which sent a near invisible fist flying towards his opponent. As this happened the apparition simultaneously attacked Pai Mei from behind with an air borne spinning side kick that would have taken the ancient man's head off, but as both attacks closed in on him Pai Mei merely bent backwards at the waist and knees to the point where he was looking directly up at the sky. As the two attacks collided with one another canceling each other out Pai Mei stood back up his eyes raking Naruto up and down as he analyzed everything he was seeing, something which gave Naruto and Kurama the impression that the man was probably aware of what the wind itself looked like going off of the intensity of his gaze.

Whatever the two might have thought after that was cut off as Pai Mei closed the distance and began his attack, targeting vitals and soft tissue points at speeds that were _just_ out of Naruto's abilities of normally reacting to. This had the immediate effect of forcing Naruto onto the defensive calling upon more moves and abilities from his repertoire in order to keep up, as the peaceful serenity that once filled Naruto was quickly replaced by complete and utter sorrow. When Pai Mei went for a sweeping kick to his head Naruto's body and muscles hardened to the point of iron, performing a cross block Naruto was able to block the incoming attack. The force of the attack however was still felt as it traveled throughout the very bones of his arms and sent him skidding back on his feet several feet, not even having a moment to rub his bruised arms Naruto had to move redirecting attack after attack, after attack from the old man. Entering the Envy Stage of his style Naruto quickly muttered "Soru." before disappearing in a blur and reappearing behind Pai Mei with his right hand pulled back, as his hand shot forward Naruto stuck his pointer finger out and loaded the tip with chakra and attempted to drill the attack into Pai Mei's exposed back. But to no avail as the older man whipped around and easily deflected the attack while simultaneously planting his foot square in Naruto's face and sending him back through the air, not having a chance to right himself Naruto crashed into the hard stone floor and rolled several feet before coming to a stop.

Getting back up Naruto looked over to Pai Mei who was once again stroking his beard, an almost thoughtful expression on his otherwise calm face. "Hmmmm you have demonstrated a decent foundation in both of your disciplines so far, and even begun to pair certain techniques from both styles together. You still have much to learn however as your fighting is still far too rigid and stiff, and you need to improve your transition from one stage of Kanjo to the next. You should be able to do so immediately without any time needed flowing from one attack to the next, your goal must be to use one attack from each stage consecutively without pause." Pai Mei lectured as he walked over to Naruto. " You lack fluidity and as such you take far too much time in between your attacks, there should be no lapse in time and it must be a truly constant assault. But you already know this do you not?"

"Hai, Master." Naruto said as he briefly bowed his head in response.

"So you thought to use various techniques from Rokushiki to compensate for this in an effort to make it more fluid, you show ingenuity in doing this. Normally it takes someone at least several years your senior to have such an original thought cross their minds, I could tell you have not had much practice in combining the two forms of combat based upon the lack of technique. You have only just started to do this haven't you?" Pai Mei asked as his eyes briefly scanned over the slight damage to his garden, his eyes resting on the spot where Naruto's Rankyaku landed. The residual chakra from the attack was slowly eating its way through the stone making a soft hissing noise as it did so, a fact which Pai Mei found intriguing.

"Hai, Master. After mastering the styles to a degree that Kakuzu-sensei deemed acceptable, I began to try and combine them. That was roughly six months ago and that is as far as I have been able to go so far." Naruto answered as he watched Pai Mei.

"Very well that will do for now as far as Taijutsu and I will take you on as my pupil, your lessons shall begin tomorrow." instructed Pai Mei as he clasped his hands together behind the small of his back. "We shall begin first by improving your overall skill in each style first and only _then_ shall we begin combining them, for your lack of success in combining the two forms of combat stems from your lack of _skill_ in them. Not from lack of practice though I will admit the fact you were able to take such an endeavor as far as you have on your own is an accomplishment, none the less we will handle that later when I deem you ready." Turning around Pai Mei made a subtle jerk of his head indicating for Naruto to follow him, without bothering to look behind him Pai Mei walked towards the mountain temple. As he did so Pai Mei waved his hand towards the damage that had been dealt to the garden during their brief spar, both Naruto and even Kurama were impressed to see the garden literally 'heal' itself till there was no sign at all of there ever have been a disturbance. Filing away what he had seen for later Naruto followed Pai Mei into the massive temple, which while simple and clearly ancient in design was also possessing an aura of liveliness to it that Naruto couldn't explain. As Naruto was led deeper into the temple he was surprised to see that there were in fact many creatures scampering around inside of the temple, almost all of whom were wearing clothes of some fashion and were busily going about either doing various chores or were cleaning and maintaining the temple itself. This led to a gobsmacked Naruto watching in amazement as a hawk larger than Naruto flapped its wings, and sent a gust of wind forth to clear out an entire room of dust while a pair robed badgers held down the papers and scrolls that were sitting on top of an ornate wooden desk. Only to pass by another room where a particularly cranky ostrich was scolding a group of young ferrets for playing inside, this particular scene led Naruto to wonder if he had taken a hit to the head and was now seeing things or if he had finally just gone insane.

" _Uhhhhhh Kurama….Ryuk….."_ Naruto thought.

" _Y-Yes?"_ answered an equally put off Kurama.

" _Whats up?"_ asked a sniggering Ryuk who somehow didn't seem to be bothered by what he was seeing.

" _You guys are seeing all of this too right?"_ asked a concerned Naruto who was praying that he wasn't going crazy.

" _Hahaha! Yep!"_ answered Ryuk who was laughing at the antics of all of the different animals within the temple.

" _Hai Naruto-kun….I can see them too. They're all animals from the Summons Clans, I've just never seen so many of them before. And from so many different clans too! Most of the time Animal Summons NEVER leave their respective realms, and not for very long either since it takes chakra for them to remain here in the Elemental Nations. But...these ones all seem to have been here for some time."_ Kurama's answered shocking Naruto further, deciding that more information was needed he looked back to Pai Mei.

"Excuse me Master?" Naruto asked.

"Is it about the different Animal Summons?" Pai Mei responded not even bothering to look back let alone acknowledge that anything was even remotely out of the ordinary.

"H-Hai."

"Hmpf very well seeing how you will be living here for the foreseeable future, you might as well know now." Pai Mei responded as he led Naruto through the temple to what could be considered the 'living area' of the temple, stopping at a specific room Pai Mei turned around and addressed his new student. "This shall be your room for however long you stay here, it shall ultimately be your responsibility to maintain it along with everything inside of it. The Animal Summons that you have seen living here are from nearly all of the summons clans, every year each clan sends a certain number of their own here to help maintain the temple. They will send their little ones here to visit so that they may see a part of the outside world, others come purely to get away from the stress and strain of war and combat that their clans' summoners inevitably put them through." Pai Mei explained to a now awestruck Naruto. "One such example would be the Toads and the Salamanders who up until the Third Shinobi War were close allies and friends, to my knowledge a few members of each clan had even fallen in love with one another. But with their respective summoners fighting on opposite sides during the previous war many lives were lost to members of the other clan, resulting in the near complete dissolution of a friendship that had lasted for several thousand years." This particular bit of new caused a very somber feeling to wash over Naruto and Kurama upon hearing it, something which was easily seen on Naruto's face which Pai Mei noted. "While you are living here you are to treat them with respect as this is more their home than it shall ever be yours, and as such I expect you to conduct yourself accordingly and behave." Pai Mei said harshly getting Naruto to nod his head quickly.

"Hai Master."

"I understand that you do not yet know your way around the temple so for now I shall forgive your tardiness should you get lost when meeting me, but I expect you to be able to find your way around my mountain within a month. So I highly suggest you do not disappoint me or you will not survive your future training, for now rest and make yourself at home. I'll send for somebody to come and fetch you when it is time for dinner, and come tomorrow morning you shall be woken by one of the more senior summons here." Without another word Pai Mei left leaving Naruto standing there alone in the hallway, not having anything better to do Naruto opened the door to what would be his room and entered.

He wasn't surprised to see A VERY spartan room containing just the barest of essentials, from a simple bed for one, to desk and drawer for him to put away his clothes as well as a walk-in closet. All in all it was everything that could Naruto could have expected to find in a temple, sighing to himself he walked over to the bed and took off his shirt and coat dumping them on top of the bed. With a quick hand seal for release the seal on his stomach appeared before in a puff of smoke his clan scroll appeared and landed on the bed, next were his swords, then his backpack along with a few odds and ends that he had had stored inside. Naruto had been ecstatic when he had learned how to 'section off' the Reaper Death Seal, since it was integrated into the fabric of his very being much like the Jiongu, Naruto had discovered just _what_ he could do with it. From storing all of his excess equipment and supplies in one section, to another which stored his swords as well as all of his weapons, to another which stored his own chakra should he ever(however unlikely) run out. Thanks to having the combined knowledge of his clan at his fingertips Naruto had went ahead and made many different seals which had taken the form of tattoos all over his body, all of which he was constantly tweaking and improving as well as immensely proud of. The seal tattoos on Naruto's arms in a way mimicked the prison tattoos on Kakuzu's arms with addition what looked like four diamonds each pointing in a different Cardinal Direction like a compass, which was located on the underside of his forearms. That seal in particular was linked directly to the section of his Reaper Death Seal that held all of his weapons, and allowed him to summon Senbon Needles, Shuriken, Kunai Knives, or Fuma Shuriken directly to his hands whenever he needed them. Something which led to Naruto sealing away several hundred of each weapon into that particular section, as well as having to put similar seals on Hitome so that she would stop pestering him. Another seal which was located near his heart actually drew from the chakra he had stored inside of his seal, when activated it would immediately convert the chakra into healing chakra which Naruto could then either use on himself or on others if he needed to administer medical attention to others. It had come to no surprise to him as well as Kurama when Ryuk told them that due to the very nature of his chakra, that Naruto would never be able to naturally use Medical Ninjutsu since his chakra would basically melt other people into goo even if he did everything perfectly. After some extensive digging through his clan's archives and seals after nearly 8 months, Naruto had found a way to filter his demonic chakra down to the point where it wouldn't be harmful to other people. And so now looked like a nine tailed fox tattoo over his heart with its tails wrapped around it in a circle, understandably that one in particular was Kurama's favorite as she smothered him in kisses after he applied it to himself. As Naruto finished putting away all of his things he lied down on the bed with his hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling he closed his eyes deciding to take a small nap before dinner seeing how Kurama was doing the same.

The next morning…...at the ass crack of dawn…

Naruto woke up with a yelp of pain as he felt something hard and smooth whack him on the head, moving on pure instinct he grabbed his kukri which had been hidden underneath his pillow and immediately slashed out in the direction of where he thought the attack had come from. Hitting nothing but air he refocused his tired eyes to see a large ostrich with no less than three bow ties on its long neck looking him up and down, as his brain clicked into gear Naruto recognized it as the same crotchety ostrich from yesterday that had been scolding some of the much younger animal summons. Shaking his head briefly and putting away his kukri he got up, rubbing the small bump on his head and cracking his neck he addressed his new 'guest'.

"Not that I'm ungrateful or anything…." he said sarcastically. "But was all of that really necessary?"

"Hmpf, you're training to be a shinobi aren't you?" the ostrich asked in what could only be described as a 'cranky old man' voice. "Then you better learn to be aware of your surroundings in your sleep, improvise, overcome and adapt boy. At least your reflexes seem to be sharp enough, good job going for the blade by the way. Now get dressed and follow me." Turning around he walked out of the room into the hallway, not wanting to keep the clearly cranky ostrich waiting any longer than necessary Naruto quickly got dressed.

Upon exiting his room Naruto saw ostrich waiting semi-patiently in the hallway, without a word the ostrich turned around and began walking at a moderate pace down one of the halls. As they walked in silence Naruto began to take a much closer look at who he was following, for some reason the ostrich wore three bow ties on its long neck. But other than that it had no other characteristics to make it stand out from any other animal, as Naruto looked the creature over a thought occurred.

"Excuse me but what should I call you?" Naruto asked.

"Mr. Ostrich." came a short and quick reply from the massive bird, who hadn't even bothered to look back.

"Seriously that's it?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"What were you expecting some extravagant long name?" Mr. Ostrich asked with a snort.

"Ummmmm…..kinda…" Naruto answered sheepishly.

"Ha! Well get ready for more disappointment!" Mr. Ostrich cackled.

After a couple more minutes of walking they came back out to the garden where Naruto had first met Pai Mei, who was once again meditating only this time with a pot of hot tea next to him. "Mr. Ostrich as pleased as I am that you brought 'Plushy' here so that he may begin his lessons, I was not expecting you for another hour." he said opening his eyes.

"Well Pai Mei-sama you know how the old saying goes, 'Early bird gets the worm'." Mr. Ostrich replied with a smirk before taking pirch on a stone platform next him. As he heard this a tick mark appeared on his forehead having learned he had been cheated out of an entire hour of sleep, silently cursing under his breath Naruto vowed to get even with the cantankerous ostrich later.

"True." Pai Mei replied with a chuckle before adopting a more serious tone. "Plushy, you are to begin your training with exercises that shall ultimately increase the strength in your legs and back." he said before gesturing towards a large staff that held to very large buckets tied to each end. "You shall carry those buckets up and down the steps leading from the base of the mountain to the temple with the staff resting on your shoulders, you are to do this till I tell you to stop." Pai Mei instructed as Mr. Ostrich openly laughed at the look of abject horror that quickly spread across Naruto's face, a sight which caused the ancien man to laugh as well.

"EEEEHHHH?!" Naruto shouted.

"Do you refuse?" Pai Mei asked quietly as his face tightened up and his eyes became dark, taking on a look that promised complete and utter pain.

"*Gulp*...No Pai Mei-sama" Naruto said bowing his head quickly before heading over to pick up the buckets, after adjusting to the weight Naruto quickly took off down the stone steps.

As the two watch the young Hanyou disappear from sight both Pai Mei and Mr. Ostrich sat in relative quiet, both simply electing to enjoy the serenity of the moment. As time wore on eventually Naruto made it back to the top of the steps, coming to a stop the young Hanyou was huffing and puffing as sweat poured down his face despite the cold weather. Not getting any response from either of the seated individuals Naruto grunted before turning around and heading back down the mountain, as he disappeared from view once more Mr. Ostrich couldn't help himself any longer.

"So when do you think he'll figure it out, that going up and down those steps has nothing to do with the training you're going to put him through?" the aged bird asked. "My money's on eight months."

"Hmmmm, he seems smarter than most of the morons that inhabit this world." Pai Mei replied thoughtfully as he stroked his beard. "I give him seven and a half months." he answered with a trace of humor in his tone, as the two of them shared a brief laugh their faces turned grim as all levity passed from their faces.

"I take it you noticed the blade on his hip…" Pai Mei began.

"Aye, I did." answered Mr. Ostrich. "I still can't believe it's here, after all of this time somebody is actually wielding that thing again. I never thought such a thing would happen in my lifetime, let alone that I would actually _see it._ What the hell was that bimbo priestess thinking?"

"I'm not sure myself what would possess her to even go near the blade, regardless she undoubtedly had her reasons." replied Pai Mei. "None of that matters now anyway, what's done is done."

"Agreed." said Mr. Ostrich. "But what will we do about that insufferable god that's tethered to him?" he asked looking over towards the ancient man.

"Leave Ryuk to me, it's best you stay out of matters involving the gods. Especially once his father discovers that the First Blade has a new wielder, I'll handle them."

13 months later

Another year of utter hell had gone by but this time at half the speed of smell, as Naruto sat against the mast of the ship he was on he couldn't help but wonder about his life. And why every teacher he had ever had was either insane, a sadist, or just a complete nightmare. But come to think of it ALL of his teachers had been a nasty combination of the three, shaking his head Naruto got up before walking over to lean against the railing of the ship. Not too far off Naruto could see a sight that was both highly amusing as well as a little weird, every now and then a massive blue skinned man could be seen shooting out of the water before diving back in like some sort of aquatic animal. The man wore just his pants and shinobi sandals revealing his bare upper torso, with gill like markings on his cheeks, neck and shoulders, small round white eyes and spiky dark blue hair. He was surprisingly the tallest man Naruto had ever seen and definitely one of the scariest which meant that he wasn't at all surprised when he discovered the man's shark like teeth, that man was named Kisame Hoshigaki.

Naruto could easily tell that the man was a dyed in the wool dangerous predator, much like the aquatic animals he had an affinity for and he greatly reminded Naruto of Kakuzu in some ways. His partner however simply made Naruto's hairs stand up on instinct, pale white skin, long straight black hair, and the look of someone who wanted to do things to your skin that would be a crime against nature itself. Naruto would have to remember to thank Kakuzu for forcing him to memorize every new edition of the International Bingo Book that came out, as well as the file that he was given on this man in particular. Everything about Orochimaru in some way repulsed Naruto at a very deep level, even Kurama and Ryuk agreed that the man was evil incarnate. For that to be said about anyone by an actual god is enough to give anyone pause, and both Naruto and Kurama agreed that for whatever reason Ryuk had begun to act out of character. For the first time taking an active interest in anyone which was alarming, but the raven winged god was even keeping track of Orochimaru's movements which had made Kurama suspicious that Ryuk might know something. Still things had gone relatively smoothly once Naruto had met up with them near the Southeastern province of Rice Country, meeting up with them in a quaint little restaurant in a village that was right next to the Fire Country border. After meeting up and eating a simple meal the three had left and begun traveling at Jounin level speeds, heading East towards a shipping city in Hotsprings Country. As they ran Kisame and Orochimaru both explained how they would be making a trip to Sky Country, where they would be striking a deal with the remnants of the Sky Shinobi.

As Naruto leaned against the railing he briefly thought of the time he spent at The Iron Temple, and of all of his experiences there. Naruto could honestly say that despite the training, which was easily as insane and lethal as what Ryuk would put him through, that at a certain level he had thoroughly enjoyed it. Call it the thrill of the challenge, or perhaps that the near constant struggle was something he was accustomed to, but all in all he had enjoyed it. And what was more Naruto had been able to enjoy the company of the Animal Summons' that lived there, when he wasn't training in the evenings he would spend time with them. Especially playing with the young ones which freed up their parents to relax and take a much needed break, it gave Naruto something that he had never had before in his life. The pleasure of simply being a child, something so simple that Naruto hadn't even realised that he had needed it till he got it. It made him so happy that not even Pai Mei's training could get him down, but there was one thing that had absolutely terrified and delighted him and Kurama. It had happened a little after four months of living there at the temple while Pai Mei and Naruto were discussing different forms of strategy over a game of Go, after a lull in the conversation Pai Mei began to question him about Kurama and in particular how he came to be her Jinchuriki. With the subtlety of an atom bomb Pai Mei shattered Naruto's entire world with a few mere words, causing his and Kurama's minds to go into overdrive.

Flashback

 _Before they could even speak Pai Mei began telling the Hanyou how he had sensed Kurama's presence from the moment they had set foot inside of Iron Country, and that he knew Kurama's name and gender because he had helped the Sage of Six Paths name her along with the rest of her siblings. He had simply waited this long to bring up the topic because he felt he had more important things to deal with such as Naruto's training, that particular quip had caused Naruto and Kurama to face fault. After recovering Naruto told the ancient man everything from the particulars of his birth, to what happened the night of his fifth birthday leaving nothing out. The two of them spent the entire night talking as Naruto recounted everything that had happened to him up till when he arrived at Pai Mei's mountain, for the most part Pai Mei listened quietly asking only a few questions here and there to clarify something. By the time Naruto had finished it was well past midnight, after taking a few sips of tea Pai Mei stood up and headed out of the room._

" _Follow me." Pai Mei said._

" _Yes Master." Naruto responded while scrambling to his feet, falling in step behind the old man he followed in silence as they headed outside. This confused Naruto as he wondered where Pai Mei was heading, looking up he could see the full moon was out and there was not a cloud in sight allowing for the moonlight to illuminate the entire valley. Walking through a Tori Gate off to the right of the temple garden, the two of them began walking up a simple path up to the top of the mountain with neat stone steps carved into the ground. As they went higher and higher Naruto began to see that at the tops of several of the surrounding mountains, were similarly carved lighthouse structures but with no discernable way of reaching them from the bottom._

" _Master?"_

" _What is it Plushy?" Pai Mei asked not bothering to look back at his pupil._

" _Why are there all of these structures built into only the tops of the mountains? The only way anyone would be able to reach them is if they flew up to them, are there temples like this one that lead up to them?" Naruto asked._

" _No, this is the only mountain temple in all of Iron Country. And the buildings you see carved into the tops of the mountains were put there that way on purpose…." Pai Mei said before coming to a halt and turning around to look at Naruto. "They were not built for humans." He said before turning around and continuing up the path, shaking his head Naruto quickly followed his mind racing as he wondered just what it was that he was being led to._

" _Naruto-kun, I sense a large amount of demonic presences a little further up." Kurama said through their mental connection._

" _Got it….thanks Kyu-chan."_

 _After finally reaching the end of the path there was a clearing right before the lighthouse itself, cut into the sides of the mountain around them were human sized platforms where birds could roost making the entire area look like an aviary. Looking around Naruto could see no signs of life for miles, looking to his master he was about to ask what they were doing here before his danger senses kicked in causing him to dodge to the left. Narrowly avoiding a strike from above and rolling into a ready stance Naruto was taken off guard by what he saw, there hovering only a few feet off of the ground was what appeared to be some form of a demon. It possessed a body of a woman with a kimono robe protecting it's modesty, her face was fairly humanoid with obvious bird characteristics. With very large glowing yellow eyes and a nose which was more angled and slitted than any humans, reminding Naruto of the nostrils on a bird's beak. With high cheekbones and full red lips which peeled back to reveal sharp teeth, her head wasn't covered in hair but instead by many blueish black feathers. Her hands were rough with large black claws at the end of three large fingers and a thumb, while her feet were the same as you would expect to find on any bird. On her back were a pair of massive crow's wings flapping to keep her in the air, easily giving her a twelve foot wingspan. And finally gripped within her hands was a large and VERY heavy looking shakujo with many rings attached to it, just a glance was enough to let Naruto know that the last thing he ever wanted was to be hit by it._

" _Hahaha! Good reflexes little Hanyou!" the female demon said before gracefully landing next to Pai Mei, all in all the demoness was beautiful in her own way. "Sorry but after Pai Mei told me about you I just had to see if you were as good as he said you are, you're the first person in almost a hundred years to dodge my attack."_

" _Naruto, this is Chaha Velar Rusa leader of the Tengu Demons." Pai Mei calmly stated as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world._

" _Ehhhhh?! You mean I'm not the only one?!" shouted Naruto after his brain finally rebooted._

" _Tch got that right Gaki, and don't worry we'll see what we can do about getting the Kyuubi out of you." Chaha replied with a smirk._

" _What?!" "WHAT?!" Naruto and Kurama exclaimed though no one was able to the fox demoness._

" _But of course, it won't do for one of Hagoromo's children to be locked away forever. And the Tengu have ways of unbinding you two, though for that to happen you will need to talk to the Shinigami." Pai Mei explained as he stroked his beard._

" _Hahhhh yep, good thing you already are on good terms with his son Ryuk-sama." chirped Chaha. " But that will still take a little bit of time even for us, in the meantime we're going to focus on three parts of your training that have been seriously neglected."_

" _Huh? Like what?" Naruto asked tilting his head in confusion._

" _Well for one Plushy we'll be working on aerial combat, even if you never learn how to fly you should still know how to fight those who do." Chaha explained her use of Pai Mei's nickname for him causing his eye to twitch. "The second thing will be Onijutsu, your demonic abilities. Kitsune demons are notorious tricksters who were also natural masters of Katon Justus, in fact the only demon known to be better than the Kyuubi with Katon was the Niibi no Nekomata."_

"Kyu-chan is that true?" _Naruto asked telepathically._

"*Sigh* Hai….we all have our strengths and weaknesses, but try as I might Matatabi would just dance circles around me when it came to Katon." _answered Kurama who went on to grumble to herself about 'stupid cats being made of fire'._

" _Wait…..What's the third one?" asked Naruto as he refocused on Chaha._

" _Genjutsu." she said smirking, holding up her left hand she snapped her fingers. What happened next rocked Naruto to his core as the very air began to shimmer and move around all of the roosts cut into the stone, and into existence stood what had to be hundreds of Tengu demons. All similarly garbed as their leader, and armed with all manner of pole weapons. From shakujos, spears and naginatas, to poleaxes and even bisentos. All of whom were staring at Naruto from their perch on their roosts, making Naruto feel almost naked with the way their eyes bore into him._

"I didn't even sense them…." _he thought as he looked around at the army that had surrounded him._

" _So….." Chaha said gaining Naruto's attention. "Shall we begin?" she asked causing Naruto to briefly have a flashback the first time Ryuk ever asked him that question._

End of flashback

Shaking his head Naruto couldn't help but smile as he continued to look out over the ocean, Chaha's training had been insane as she made a point to always attack from the sky while Pai Mei would strike from the ground. After initially getting a feel for where Naruto was in terms of skill Chaha imposed certain restrictions on him, for one he was not allowed to ever use Shadow Clones or any other type of Clone Jutsu as he needed to be able to fight on his own without help. Another was that he needed to stick to only using his Taijutsu as well as his claws and tail, that restriction alone took away a vast majority of what Naruto could do to fight off his two opponents. Despite that though Naruto didn't complain as he saw the logic behind both restrictions, another thing that happened was that Chaha and Pai Mei both studied the Jiogu that made up most of Naruto's being. After talking to one another they had both agreed and began helping Naruto discover more ways to integrate the Jiongu into Naruto's Taijutsu, the fact that Naruto could extend his arms to almost any length was a very significant advantage. That particular enterprise led to Naruto sometimes spending entire days working solely with Chaha working on figuring out what he could do with the Jiongu, as well as perfecting and mastering his demonic abilities. After a month and a half of working with Chaha, Naruto had not only figured out how to use the Jiongu to created wings with which to fly and could even use his Fuuton heart to increase his speed through the air. Something that led to Naruto having to then battle Chaha and Pai Mei(who merely floated in the air like it was nothing) in mid air from that point on, he also discovered several demonic abilities that he could use for a variety of situations.

For one Naruto discovered how to create Kitsune-bi, foxes made entirely out of fire that can serve a multitude of functions from attacking enemies to carrying messages across large distances. With the wielder being able to telepathically control the foxes one could use them to herd enemies into traps easily, especially since each fox has the ability to spit several small explosive balls of fire from their mouths. After being told all of the things he could do with the technique Naruto was literally drooling as he thought of all the implications, another Onijutsu that Naruto learned was far more simple being the ability to harden and lengthen his claws and fangs. Not a particularly jaw dropping ability since it had no name, but still could be pretty damn useful in a Taijutsu fight, especially with razor sharp inche and a half long claws tearing people to shreds. Naruto had a feeling that Hitome would be supremely jealous once she found out about it though, anything that dealt with spilling blood always held her interest. And finally the last Onijutsu that Naruto learned was actually something of Naruto's own creation, one that took complete advantage of the sheer toxicity of Naruto's chakra. As he had up till recently had a problem controlling his chakra this led to him overloading his Taijutsu attacks, with the end result many, many, MANY trees and boulders corroded away by the excess chakra. But by harnessing the maximum amount of Chakra that he could into the palm of his hand and then grinding and folding it over on itself repeatedly, Naruto was able to _refine_ it in a way, to the point where it would become a purely corrosive miasma the same deep purple as his own demonic chakra. Deciding on naming it **Onijutsu: Toxic Luster Bomb** Naruto had demonstrated it to Chaha and Pai Mei, using the top of an uninhabited mountain Naruto's jutsu actually destroyed most of the top of the mountain before eating away at even more of it. When the miasma was finally gone there was a massive crater where the top of the mountain should have been giving it the appearance of a standard volcano, afterwards Pai Mei had labeled it an S Rank Kinjutsu that Naruto was never to use unless he had no other choice. A sentiment that was readily shared with Chaha though she and Pai Mei did congratulate Naruto for his accomplishment, what both had noted was that the jutsu made almost no sound as Naruto performed it which only increased the threat level of the technique.

When it came to Genjutsu Naruto found that while he had a decent grasp on traditional methods for creating illusions, it was something that simply wasn't for him as nothing seemed to really _take hold_. When Chaha and Kurama heard of this however both demonesses laughed at him, explaining that the only reason that Kurama had even bothered to train him in standard Genjutsus was purely to improve his chakra control. The _human_ way of performing Genjutsus would never really work for him because he wasn't even human to begin with, he would have to learn the _demonic_ way of bringing people's nightmares screaming to the surface. This led to Naruto learning from one of the other Tengu demons named Tchar Ganack who was the most skilled in Genjutsu that the Tengu had to offer, Naruto and Tchar got along famously as both loved to prank others. After getting down the basics Tchar had opted to teach Naruto how to use demon based Genjutsus, by having him use illusions to prank other members of the Tengu Tribe, a three month enterprise that led to them making Chaha believe that she was naked and that her feathers had been dyed pink. Once she had discovered what had happened and who had done it she had laughed herself silly, before getting revenge on them both by beating them with her shakujo.

All in all Naruto had a blast the entire time he was amongst the Tengu as just like with the Summon Animals that lived within the temple, he truly felt normal amongst them. But as with all things in life the good times had to come to an end as the end of the year arrived, and with it his meeting with the Shinigami himself. Something that Naruto had been dreading as he neared closer to the day, he already knew from his own dealings with Ryuk that the Shinigami was to be shown the utmost respect at all times. When the time finally came it was much like his first encounter with Ryuk, only it was far more terrifying than any other moment in Naruto's life. Naruto couldn't help the shudder that ripped through his body as he thought of his meeting with Ryuk's father, it had surprisingly been rather straightforward as the God of Death merely listened to what he had to say. For some time the Shinigami didn't say a word instead opting to study the young Hanyou, something that made Naruto feel like he had been stripped bare of any possible wards that he might have tried to put up. Looking up into the Shinigami's eyes however had been a mistake, as their eyes met Naruto could see the beginning and the end of every life that had ever been. As well as every life that had yet to come, taking in all that he was seeing Naruto was brought to his knees gasping for air.

 _Flashback_

" _How quaint." The Shinigami spoke in a slightly interested tone. "It's been eons since a mortal has been able to look me in the eye and_ live, let alone remain conscious." _As he spoke Pai Mei, Chaha and all of the Tengu Demons bowed low at the waist before straightening back up, looking up from the ground Naruto was able to get a much better look at the god standing before him. He was a gaunt spectre with a demonic visage having very long shaggy white hair, dark purple skin and two red horns protruding from his head. The Death God was also very large being easily three times the size of a normal man, cloaked in flowing white robes he also carried prayer beads wrapped around his hands. As Naruto took in what was standing in front of him Ryuk floated over and with one of his large fingers, used it to lift up Naruto's jaw which was hanging wide open. This seemed to do the trick of snapping Naruto out of his reverie as he quickly began to regain his composure, setting a firm gaze he stood up and bowed._

" _Shinigami-sama thank you for coming, I know you are very busy so I will make this as quick as I can." Naruto began._

" _Do not bother young Hanyou, I already know what it is you are going to ask." the Shinigami said interrupting Naruto before he could continue. "I remember well sealing the Kyuubi inside of you and only a fool would not be able to recognize his own work, you desire her to be set free don't you?"_

" _Yes!" Naruto exclaimed before clamming up as he quickly remembered who he was addressing. "Umm….I mean...yes Shinigami-sama." he said in the most respectful tone he could manage, his mind racing as he thought of what could possibly happen._

" _Relax mortal I'm not going to bite you." the Shinigami replied rolling his eyes. "And as to your request I have no problem releasing Kurama from her prison, but in return you must do something for me." he said gaining everyone's attention as it was not often that the Death God made a request of anyone._

" _Anything." Naruto said without hesitation._

" _Naruto-kun….be careful. You do not want to be indebted to the Shinigami." Kurama warned from inside the seal._

" _I do not appreciate being summoned, and I appreciate it far less when stupid little mortals try to compel me to do anything." the Death God said anger clearly displayed on his face. "The last time this happened was through the use of that accursed Dead Consuming Seal, which the Nidaime Hokage foolishly created. And then to almost add further insult I discover that he is also the same man who created a Forbidden Jutsu that reanimates the deceased, something that I would NEVER permit. And then there is your clan…" he said narrowing his eyes at Naruto who was shaking by this point._

" _Wh….Wh-Wh-What did my clan d-do?" Naruto asked stuttering on his own words, hoping that quite possibly the most powerful god of all was not mad at him._

" _They created a mask centuries ago which when worn summons me to them, and then compels me to cut open my stomach to release whoever is sealed within." the Shinigami growled his anger causing the grass and vegetation around him to wither and die within seconds._

" _Ah…." Naruto said as he silently cursed his ancestors for being so stupid._

" _Here is what you will do mortal." the Shinigami said. "You will seek out and destroy not only that damned mask, but you will also erase any and all knowledge of the Dead Consuming Seal as well as the the Edo Tensei. Understood?"_

" _Hai Shinigami-sama." Naruto replied bowing once more._

" _Good, now hold still." the Death God replied._

" _Eh?"_

 _Before Naruto could react the Shinigami made a clutching motion with his left hand, and immediately afterwards Naruto felt strange tugging sensation coming from his abdomen. Looking down Naruto could see red chakra that he knew belonged to Kurama flowing out of his stomach and coalescing on the ground in front of him, what seemed like an infinite amount of chakra poured out in front of him for what had to be only a few short moments. And while the process wasn't painful by any means it was certainly uncomfortable as Naruto could feel like he was losing a part of himself, something that had been there with him his whole life and now it was gone. As the chakra took shape and solidified Kurama emerged in front of them in her Nine Tailed Fox form, throwing back her head she let out a roar as she reared to her full height._

" _Ahhhhhh! I'm free! Free at last!" she screamed up to the heavens in joy as she stretched her body, looking at everyone surrounding her her face quickly changed to one of complete confusion. "Uhhh when did you guys get to be so big?"_

 _That seemed to do it for Ryuk, Chaha and Pai Mei as all three busted out laughing to the point that tears were streaming from their eyes, even the Shinigami couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped his lips. For standing there in all of her glory was the Kyuubi, who was no larger than a small house cat. As realization began to set in Kurama quickly adopted a look of absolute rage which was completely offset by her size, instead of coming off as intimidating all it looked like was a cute pout._

" _Yeah Kyu-chan I wouldn't celebrate just yet." Naruto managed to say with a somewhat straight face._

" _If you laugh Naruto….you die." Kurama said darkly._

" _Woah! Careful now I think we upset the beast!" Chaha cackled._

" _We must tread lightly, Kami and Buddha willing she doesn't have rabies." Pai Mei chimed in merily as he stroked his beard._

" _I….will kill….ALL OF YOU." Kurama swore as she was picked up by Naruto by the scruff of her neck, glaring at the young Hanyou she attempted in vain to swat Naruto's face only to miss entirely._

 _Sweat dropping Naruto held Kurama like a pet and began to stroke the top of her head, scratching behind her large ears and under her chin. The effect was almost immediate as she practically purred into Naruto's hands, rolling her eyes back in pleasure Kurama's fur puffed out as Naruto continued to pet her._

" _It will take some time to return to your old self so I went ahead and made some changes to your seal, from now on you can come and go from the seal as you please." the Shinigami spoke catching everyone's attention. "Due to the seal you will always be connected to Naruto no matter what, so I saw to it that you can always be summoned by him no matter where you are. However thanks to the fact that the seal was warped only days after it had been placed, something that resulted in Naruto becoming a Hanyou, almost all of the chakra you possessed will have to stay inside of the seal for now. It will slowly return to you with time but for now you will have to endure being this way, but rest assured you will one day be back to full power." the Shinigami explained much to the relief of Kurama._

" _Thank you Shinigami-sama, I can't tell you how much this means to me." Kurama said bowing her little head. "It's just that this is so embarrassing!" she said bawling at the end._

" _Oh calm down it could always be worse." said Ryuk cackling near the end._

" _How could it possibly be worse than this?"_

" _Easy you could end up like the Nidaime Hokage, Tobirama Senju." answered the Shinigami with a VERY self satisfied smile, something that caused everyone there with the exception of Ryuk to shudder._

" _What happened to him?" Naruto asked fearing the response._

" _I sentenced him to 500 years as my secretary, doing all of my paperwork dealing with the souls of the dead." the Shinigami replied almost smuggly causing Ryuk and Pai Mei to laugh even harder while everyone else face faulted._

" _Seriously?! THAT'S your big punishment for him?!" exclaimed Naruto and Kurama._

" _Filing all of the paperwork for all of the billions upon billions of souls from every world, and in every universe that die daily.…..for 500 years." the Death God simply replied causing looks of horror to be plastered across their faces._

" _That's just evil!" cried Chaha much to everyone's agreement, well ALMOST everyone. Pai Mei and Ryuk were merely grinning._

" _At least it's better than what my brother Jashin does to his secretaries, he has them sit on chairs with spiked dildoes fastened to them. And they're covered in lemon juice so that way it always stings like hell, I'd say my punishment is rather mild in comparison." That particular comment caught everyone off guard and it showed in their disgusted faces, as they all knew that only a special type of offender would get such treatment._

" _Anyways I must go now, I've wasted too much time here and I have an entire world war to oversee. Oh and Ryuk, make sure to visit your mother in heaven soon she needs to speak with you." And with that the Shinigami vanished just as quickly as he had come, leaving no trace of his presence ever being there._

" _Well that was fun." said Chaha._

" _Hehehe couldn't agree more." agreed Ryuk._

 _Looking down Naruto held Kurama closer to himself in a hug, after a few minutes he let go and set her down on the ground. "Come on Kyu-chan, let's go." he said turning they both left._

 _End of Flashback_

Checking the position of the sun Naruto noticed that it was near time for supper, it had been another uneventful day at sea. They were still headed for Sky Country and were now a day closer, asides from the 'light spar' that he had had with Kisame and Orochimaru nothing interesting had happened. Though Naruto would easily admit that the spar had been thrilling, as both opponents had been basically sending tsunamis at him the entire time. The water battle had certainly been a great way to blow off steam and by the end it had been a great way to pass the time, walking down into the ship Naruto headed for the galley.

Meanwhile in Konoha

Hiashi was slumped against his sofa alongside his wife Hanna who was equally exhausted, their life had been completely turned upside down for over a year now and they were once again near the end of their rope. After the events surrounding Hinata's fifth birthday Hanna didn't leave her daughter's side for well over a month, even going so far as to make sure Hinata was just outside the door to the birthing room when it came time for Hannabi's delivery. The fierce Hyuuga Matriarch had been especially adamant on punishing those who had been on watch that night, something that Hiashi wholeheartedly agreed with after what had happened. It had also prompted the Clan Head to secretly investigate the matter himself, after all how on earth does _anyone_ break into a compound guarded by Byakugan wielders? It just didn't make sense to him or Hanna, and so he had privately been questioning those who had been on guard that night. And what he had found disturbed him greatly as while all of the guards stories checked out, there was a single gap in the security in the form of the patterns that the patrols took. It left a single spot near the compound wall close to Hinata's room unguarded, to Hiashi And Hanna's estimate the blind spot lasted roughly 10 seconds. Just enough time for an experienced professional to slip in and out without being noticed, Hiashi knew that the ones who generally created and ran the patrol schedules were the Hyuuga Elders. It made Hiashi's blood boil to think that any of them would _dare_ put his daughter's life in jeopardy, he would have to be careful from now on when investigating his clan.

But that was something to think about at another time, looking back to his wife he couldn't help the smile that crossed his lips as she leaned against him. She was just as tired and ragged as he was dealing with the little terror that was Hinata, ever since that night things had been different. After Naruto and Hiashi could only assume were his Guardians had left, Hiashi had rushed Hinata to the hospital to have her checked on. Not long after Hanna who was still heavily pregnant with Hanabi had blasted through the Main entrance, demanding to know where her daughter was she nearly killed half the staff before she was told what she wanted to hear. She had been near hysterical till she saw Hinata sleeping peacefully in her hospital bed, that sight alone had caused her to calm down. After that Hiashi had told her everything that had happened, from when he walked into Hinata's room to find her missing, to when he arrived in that alley just in time to see their little girl murdered. He had to hold his wife as she sobbed after that, he stood there holding her for some time before she calmed down enough to hear the rest of the story. Hiashi told her of what Naruto had done to bring their little girl back to life by giving her his own heart, literally, a fact that horrified Hanna as Hiashi went into great detail recalling what had happened.

Afterward Tsunade Senju, the Hokage, the _Raikage,_ Danzo Shimura, and both the Fire Daimyo to and the Lightning Daimyo walked the hospital room. Before Hiashi and Hanna could say anything Tsunade immediately got to work casting a diagnosis jutsu on Hinata, they both waited silently till the Sannin was finished and were both relieved to hear Tsunade tell them that Hinata was perfectly healthy. That had been something that they had both needed to hear for their own sanity, they were however shocked when Tsunade told them of the strange black strings that were now permanently a part of Hinata's body. Activating their Byakugans Hiashi and Hinata were able to confirm for themselves that Tsunade was right, as they could see countless black strings moving and pulsing all throughout Hinata's body. They also noted that the strings almost seemed to be sentient with how it moved, especially around Hinata's new heart which they could see being compressed and shrunk down to a more appropriate size for her. They had no objections when Tsunade told them that she would need to stay for a few days under observation, especially since it would take Hinata a couple of days to wake up. After that night the next couple of days brought with them insane revelations, as Hiashi and Hanna were both briefed on the council meeting that they missed the day after the incident. Not only that but throughput the week Tsunade ran test after test on Hinata, trying to find out all that she could about the black threads that made up most of the girls body. From what Tsunade had said it was like the woman was describing a completely different species, as Tsunade was no longer even confident that Hinata was still completely human.

From what the tests had yielded Hinata's entire chakra network had been changed, and was now not only fully active but was far more efficient than anything Tsunade had ever seen. Due to the new heart that she had received Hinata's body would not have been able to handle all of the excess chakra, the threads had solved that by layering Hinata's chakra network on top of itself. No instead of the hundreds of pathways that a normal human possessed, Hinata had over two thousand all of which ran so smoothly that Tsunade could only describe it as perfect. Another anomaly that had been discovered when Tsunade was doing tests on Hinata's blood was that she was apparently immune to diseases, Tsunade had run samples of the girl's blood against strains of every known disease that she could think of. All of which failed outright to do anything, the cause of which Tsunade discovered were tiny microfibers of the threads in her blood that fought off the diseases. The final thing that was immediately picked up on was not Hinata's near limitless energy, Hinata had always been a shy girl but after her fifth birthday she was a small bundle of hyper energy. It was actually to the point where the entire clan had to get involved in caring for her taking turns in shifts so that others could rest, within the first 6 months of being back at the compound Hinata had all but ran the clan exhausted. It got so bad that they had to turn to making babysitting Hinata one of the highest paying D Rank missions just so the clan could get a reprieve, by the end of the year the 'Babysit Hinata' mission had risen to the same notoriety as the 'Capture Tora' mission.

As Hiashi thought of all that had gone on in the past year he was cut from his musings as he felt a soft smooth hand caress his cheek, looking down his eyes met his wife as she looked back up at him. "Hey pooki." Hanna said with a soft smile.

"Hey." he responded as he slid his hand over hers.

"We haven't had a lot of time together have we?" Hanna asked as she sat up straighter so that she could wrap her arms around Hiashi's neck, gently swinging her leg over so that she was straddling her husband.

"No we haven't…..it's been a while for us huh?" Hiashi asked as he ran his hands gently over his wife's waist, causing her to shiver as held her husband closer to her.

"Yes…" Hanna moaned as she felt Hiashi's hands caress her breasts through her kimono, biting her lip she deftly undid the bow of her obi that held her kimono together. She couldn't help the shiver that escaped her as her kimono opened up exposing her large delicate breasts to the cool air, her husband wasting no time to take one of her nipples into his mouth, an act that caused her to gasp in pleasure.

"Ha….Hashi-kun…." Hanna moaned as she pressed her husband further onto her breast, without a word Hiashi stood up keeping his hands securely grasping her ass as Hanna wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Let's go to bed tenshi-chan…" Hiashi said as we walked them both to their bedroom as Hanna kissed him deeply.

Two weeks later in Sky Country

Naruto yawned as he stretched and cracked his back, it had been almost a week since he had last seen Kisame and Orochimaru, and loathe as he was to admit he actually missed Kisame. At least the man had a well developed sense of humor that he could appreciated, his partner on the other hand just kept looking at Naruto like he wanted to dissect him. Another thing that had Naruto and Kurama on edge the entire trip had not surprisingly been Ryuk, whose behavior had become stranger and more erratic. Things finally came to a head when Ryuk pulled Naruto and Kurama to the side to talk to them, the crazed god confirmed that he had been studying Orochimaru ever since Hot Springs Country. And that once their business was finished in Sky Country to ditch the two Akatsuki and come with him, normally Naruto would have said no but given the seriousness in Ryuk's voice Naruto agreed. Despite all of that things had gone relatively smoothly when he was traveling with the two swordsmen, thanks Kisame manipulating the sea around the ship they had been able to arrive in Sky Country a week ahead of schedule, something that pleased everyone greatly. After arriving in port it had taken them only two days to meet up with their contact, as well as another day to actually meet the man that had called for them to make the journey across the sea.

Flashback

 _A man named Shinno had met with them and explained in part some of his plans to Kisame and Orochimaru, it was clear that both were interested in what the large man had to say. Naruto even had to admit that he was mightily impressed with what he had in mind, keeping the Sky Shinobi underground working as a mercenary group much like the Akatsuki in order to fund their plans. The revival and restoration of a massive flying fortress named Ancor Vantian, as well as using a powerful creature known as the Reibi, the Zero Tailed Leech to power it. Personally Naruto had no real care as to what the man's goals were as they honestly didn't affect him, Shinno might have made amazing strides in the fortresses restoration but he would be at least another 10 years before anything he was ready to take on the world. After the meeting both Orochimaru gave Naruto a signet ring identical to the ones he and the rest of the Akatsuki wore, looking at it Naruto read the blood red kanji for 'Apocalypse'. Putting it on his right middle finger Naruto channeled his chakra into it the same way he had witnessed Kakuzu and Hitome do it countless times, he was not disappointed when he felt a pull on his consciousness. When Naruto next opened his eyes he was standing in a dark room before a massive statue, looking at himself he could only see a negative hologram of himself as well as one for each of Akatsuki's members. Looking around Naruto noticed that he was standing on one of the fingers of the statue along with the rest of the Akatsuki members, from the descriptions that Kakuzu and Hitome he was able to recognize Sasori of the Red Sands and Juzo Biwa of Mizugakure. Naruto was happy to look over and see Konan as well as Kakuzu and Hitome but before he could say anything a deep voice cleared its throat, looking over he was able to see the hologram of a man with concentric ringed eyes standing in the middle of everyone._

" _Let's begin, Kakuzu...Hitome how has your mission been going? Anything new to report?" the man asked, as Naruto stared at the man trying to figure out what the hell was going on with the dude's eyes Kurama was freaking out from within the seal._

"SHIT! That's the Rinnegan! How the hell does anyone have it after all this time?!" _she thought to herself her mind racing a mile a minute, she would have to tell Naruto as soon as it was safe. As she began looking around the massive room trying to memorize everything that she could, she saw something that made her blood run cold._

" _Impossible_ ….." _she let slip out as she looked at the massive statue that they were standing on._ "I thought father sealed that thing away in the fucking moon!" _she thought to herself._

"What was that _?" Naruto telepathically asked having heard her._

"Don't worry about it for now Naruto-kun, I'll tell you later for now just focus on the meeting." _responded Kurama before closing the link._

 _Deciding to ask about it later Naruto turned his attention back to Kakuzu and Hitome who were wrapping up their report on their mission in Snow Country, and how the new Daimyo Doto was more than happy to do business with the Akatsuki. And how they had received contact from the Tsuchikage, who had decided to send them not only the bounty for bringing back one of Iwa's prized treasures, but was also interested in doing business with them._

" _Good, please send him a reply saying that we would be happy to do business with him." Pein instructed._

" _Sure thing." replied Kakuzu._

" _And now onto you three, I am sorry that we could not meet in the flesh Naruto-kun but circumstances haven't permitted that yet. Perhaps in the future though." he said addressing the Hanyou._

" _Meh its fine, not really something I could hold against you anyways. And not to sound ungrateful or anything but I'm still a little confused as to what I'm even doing here, and why give me a ring?" Naruto asked deciding to get right to the point._

" _It's simple really the ring along with the ones we all wear are custom made for each of us by Orochimaru, and they allow us to communicate with one another across vast distances in this manner." Pein explained gesturing to the other holograms present. "If somebody were to try and sneak in on one of our meetings somehow, they would not be able to get any accurate description of us save for our individual heights and genders. Which would only describe every single person on the planet, the rings also allow us to track each other's whereabouts as long as they are wearing the ring should the become captured."_

" _So that way you can detonate the bomb hidden inside of them if it looks like a rescue is impossible?" Naruto asked as he inspected the ring on his 'finger'._

" _Precisely." Pein said with an amused chuckle._

" _Kukuku….A very keen observation Naruto-kun, and yes its a safety feature that I personally worked into each ring to suck out the wearer's chakra and release it all at once." Orochimaru responded._

" _Ehhhhh?! You mean I've been walking around all these years with a fucking BOMB on my body?! Do you know how many times this finger has been inside of me?!" Hitome exclaimed before realizing what it was she just admitted, causing an awkward silence to fill the room for a few moments._

" _Hitome…." Pein began once he regained his composure. "You were told of this when you first joined our organization, if you forgot the that's your problem."_

" _Oh…..riiiiiiight." she said sheepishly._

" _Anyways, how the hell did you figure that out so quickly kid?" asked Juzo._

" _Easy I'm an Uzumaki, so I was able to tell from the seals that were on the ring what it could do for the most part. Then there's the fact that I saw Kakuzu and Hitome use their rings all of those times to give you guys reports from the base in River Country, but as for the bomb that was just a luck guess." Naruto replied catching the other Akatsuki members off guard._

" _Wait...so you?" Kisame began._

" _You had no real idea it was there?" finished Orochimaru who was just as off put by the fact that he had been so easily tricked by such a childish prank._

" _I do now." Naruto said laughing._

" _Ha! Good one Gaki!" Hitome crowed before breaking down into a giggling fit._

" _Ahem….anyways, one of the reasons that you are here in this meeting is not just so that you can begin your next steps as a member of our group, but because I would like your input on the situation with Sky Country." Pein said deciding to restore some order to the meeting and get things moving again. "You being a Jinchuriki you have a more intimate knowledge of demons than we do, and Orochimaru is one who actually fought against Kurama when she attacked Konoha."_

" _Yeah about that..." Naruto said looking over to Orochimaru. "She says next time you touch her tails like that again she's going to swallow you whole, apparently touching a kitsune's tails is the same as touching a woman's ass." he said once again catching Orochimaru off guard._

" _Ummmm…..duly noted." the snake summoner responded honestly not knowing what else to say._

" _Honestly it sounds like a good deal as long as you have a way of making sure he keeps his end of the deal, and doesn't try to screw you over when the time comes. Keep in contact with him to make sure he keeps thinking that your goals are perfectly in line with his will go a long way in that aspect, but also make sure he knows that no amount of power or crazy will save him from us. Can't have him thinking that he can get away with anything and not have serious consequences." Naruto said impressing most of the others with his assessment._

" _And what of the Reibi? Is it not a Bijuu just like the fox inside of you?" Pein asked his ringed eyes carefully watching Naruto's every movement._

" _Yeah no…...the Reibi is absolutely NOTHING like Kyu-chan or ANY of the other Bijuu. The Reibi is a runoff of all of the other Bijuus' chakra that came together and gained consciousness after it was warped by pure human suffering and negativity, according to Kyu-chan its tried to take all of their chakra for itself countless times. And that despite the fact that they always destroy it, the damn thing just keeps coming back." Naruto responded gaining mixed reactions ranging from impassive to amused from the other members._

" _Oh hoho! 'Kyu-chan' is it? I didn't know you two were so close." snickered Juzo._

" _Explain to me how that's any of your business." Naruto fired back._

" _Enough." interjected Pein. "Thank you for your input Naruto, it was very valuable as not even I knew of the creatures true origins."_

" _No problem."_

" _Now if there is nothing else to adress then this meeting is adjourned." said Pein._

" _Actually there is one other thing." said Naruto quickly before anyone could leave._

" _Oh? What is it?" asked Pein._

" _I know Kisame and Orochimaru have business in Tea Country after this, but I want to stay behind." Naruto said causing Pein to raise an eyebrow, not that anyone could see it._

" _And why do you want to do that?" he asked calmly._

" _Because Kurama wants me to look around the surrounding countries for her old dens, she said she had many of them scattered all over the world and that she wants me to visit. Something about there being an old heirloom of hers that she wants me to have, and afterwards I want to meet up with you." Naruto said using the best poker face he can muster._

" _Oh? And why would you want to meet me in person?" Pein asked curiously._

" _That way I can meet my cousin face to face…...Nagato." Naruto replied seriously._

 _Pein raised an eyebrow at this as he thought about what it was that Naruto had just said, as the implications began to truly set in he spoke. "You better not be lying young man, or I_ WILL _find you." he said calmly though underneath his composure everyone could feel the full weight of his threat, and what came with it if Naruto was lying._

End of Flashback

After finishing up breakfast Naruto had gone ahead and taken flight with the wings he created with the Jiongu, as he flew he looked over to Ryuk who was flying alongside of him. The crazed god had been acting completely out of character ever since he left Pai Mei's mountain to speak with Kami, and over the last week…..it was almost as if Ryuk had had somebody walk over his grave. As ironic as it was it still caused Naruto and Kurama to worry as ANYTHING that can give a god pause, let alone worried only spells doom for everyone else. The fact that the both of them were smack dab in the middle of it didn't help in the least. Still Ryuk had been very helpful acting as a guide leading them to their destination, having found it just after they had arrived at Sky Country. Some cave that was luckily hidden not too far away from where Naruto, Kisame, and Orochimaru had met with Shinno.

Upon arriving at the unassuming cave entrance which was atop a very high cliff surrounded by a waterfall, Naruto already had a feeling that whatever he was going to find was going to at least be worth coming all the way there. Who the hell would use a cave that's damn near impossible to get to like this?

"Not gonna lie Ryuk this is already looking good, only a highly skilled ninja would be able to make it up here…..that or someone who can fly." Naruto remarked.

"Burr." Kurama said as she shook the water out of her fur splashing Naruto with a more than a few droplets in the process. "Alright we came here now what's so important that you had to drag us all the way into the middle of nowhere?" she asked irritably.

"Nothing you're going to like, I can promise you that." Ryuk said his usual characteristic cheerfulness long gone.

"Tch, fine." Naruto replied, and without another word started walking further into the cave. As they went the floor, walls and ceiling quickly began to change going from a natural roughness that only nature can produce to the smoothness of something man made. Before long the came to a large door that was easy enough to open, as soon as Naruto stepped inside the room however is when the lights immediately came on.

"Oh….my…. _Kami._ " Naruto barely uttered out as Kurama looked on horrified, as Ryuk merely looked on in supreme sadness.

The end…...till the next chapter anyway

 **Must read!**

 **Hey guys how are you doin? Sorry again for it taking so damn long to get this chapter out but shit was crazy the last few months that I had to handle, and thanks to all of you who are following my story. It means a lot to me that you all follow so please make sure to REVIEW each chapter and I'll try to answer any of your questions.**

 **Seriously though keep sending me those reviews cause the more I get the better I can make the story, and if any of you have some juicy tips then it just might make it into the story. Cause i also have ideas that i wanna run by you guys, such as making a fire version of the Lightning Sword of the Second Hokage. Just imagine Darth Bane's curved lightsaber hilt, Google it cause it looks bad ass. What if I put something like THAT into the story? Let me know what you all think.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Akuma Sannin**

 **Okay so first I wanna say thanks to all of you who have subscribed, favorited, followed or done all of the above. Cause the feedback that I have been getting from you guys is what really has helped me keep writing, this is my first story ever and for a while I really thought that I was doing something wrong till I looked at all of the feedback and reviews from you all. Not gonna lie it means a lot to me so keep on reading and don't forget to Review the chapters. Cause again if any of you have any questions then I can totally answer them, and I'm always open to new ideas and if you have a good one then I might be able to work it into the story somewhere. I'm also sorry for the long wait with this particular chapter, I've had crazy ass amounts of homework with my college classes that has taken up a lot of my time and I also wanted to make sure I got this chapter right and did it justice instead of just shiting outs a subpar chapter.**

 **Also I can't tell you how excited I am to be doing this chapter finally, as I am going to be able to put to rest something that will have taken me 10 whole chapters to bring full circle. ALSO…..I've decided to instead change Kiba's gender back to male. You may have seen at the top of chp. 3 I had made a list showing all of the pairings for this story, well after a lot of thinking I decided to change Kiba back to a male because of his father Okami. I just feel that for a man as badass as him he should have a son to carry on his legacy and name, you know how that old fashioned stuff goes. And for a man like Okami Inuzuka that's just the kind of thing you would expect, it's just something that had to be done. I'll post who Kiba will be paired up with in the next chapter. And finally im sorry for the time between chapters i had to take the time in order to keep up the quality of the story, as well as iron out all of the details. The next chapter will come before the end of November so keep an eye out for it, and if you have any questions leave a review. Enjoy!**

Naruto stood stock still next to Kurama who was likewise frozen in place, their minds having ground to an abrupt halt as they tried to take in what their eyes were seeing. They had finally reached the laboratory that belonged to Orochimaru, and despite all of the warnings that Ryuk had given them on the way there nothing could prepare them for what they were witnessing. Everywhere they looked they saw both human and animal organs encased in clear jars filled with culture liquid, there were several operating tables neatly aligned in a row in one corner of the large room. With several desks covered in both medical and science equipment all along the walls and throughout the lab, the most horrifying part of it all are the massive tubes along one of the walls. In each of them were the corpses of men, women and children who had all obviously been experimented on. Each of them looking far more like some malformed monster than an actual human being, as Naruto took it all in he began to have flashbacks of all the times he had caught Orochimaru staring at him. All of the times that he had stared at him or just made him feel plain uncomfortable, as it all came together Naruto realized that all of those times the snake summoner must have been thinking about experimenting on him. Doing all of these sick experiments on him just to see what made him tick, as it dawned on him Naruto quickly bent over and expelled all of the contents within his stomach. It was simply the most disgusting scene he had ever witnessed, as he finished coughing up what felt like his lungs Naruto stood back up to take another look.

"Alright Ryuk, now that we've ensured that I have nightmares for the foreseeable future. Again…..why are we here?!" Naruto asked screaming near the end.

" **Do you remember back in Iron Country when my dad told me to visit Kami? Saying she had something to tell me?"** Ryuk asked gaining a nod from Naruto and Kurama. **"When I got to heaven Yami and Jashin were already there with mom, once I was there they told me what was going on. Do you remember when I told you that your clan had helped me out a long time ago?"**

"Ummmmm yes?" Naruto said vaguely remembering from his first encounter with Ryuk that it had been mentioned.

" **Well what they had helped me out with was the sealing of another God, a very old one too."** Ryuk said much to Naruto's and Kurama's surprise.

"WHAT/EHHHHHH?!" Naruto and Kurama exclaimed.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" asked Kurama.

" **What I mean is that they helped me seal away the Yamata no Orochi…."** Ryuk replied causing both demons to freeze.

" **Yeah now that I have your attention…"** sighed Ryuk. **"This was only a few centuries after the Juubi had been dealt with, I had been sent to deal with the bastard once and for all. A demonic God that was infinitely more dangerous as the Ten Tails, and just as powerful-"**

"Wait….." Naruto interjected. " How was it more dangerous if it was just as powerful?"

" ***sigh*...Because while the Juubi is a primordial god of mindless destruction, the Orochi was not only just as powerful but was also as cunning and intelligent as my parents."** Ryuk explained.

"Fuck….." Naruto breathed out as he felt like all of the wind had been knocked out of him.

" **Now that I've answered your question may I continue?"** Ryuk asked with a not so subtle tinge of irritation, getting a nod he continued. **"It had taken everything to seal the Orochi away and by the end of it we had almost completed our task, but right before it could be complete the slippery bastard used all of its power to pull off one last trick. It changed the sealing so that way all of his power, his body, and his mind would remain sealed, but that his soul would remain. And in doing so he allowed himself a chance of escape, because with his soul free it would inevitably become reincarnated. When that happens he would basically be reborn a mortal without any of his previous memories or powers, but he would still possess the soul of a dark god."** Ryuk explained much to Naruto and Kurama's horror.

"Sweet Kami…..And I thought _I_ was bad…." said Kurama.

"So what does this have to do with us?" Naruto asked at length.

" **I was getting to that, you see out of all the other gods I'm the only one who's actually even allowed to meddle in mortal affairs to the extent that I do. And even then I have rules I have to follow, we may be gods but we all go by a set of rules that we never break so that way we can check ourselves. That being said I've been asked to enlist you into our service, to keep an eye on Orochimaru and ensure that he never discovers a way to becoming immortal."**

"Wait a minute! Timeout!" Kurama exclaimed holding up her paw like hands in a capital 'T'. "First of all what does the Orochi-pedo becoming immortal have to do with anything? And lastly HOW could he even BECOME immortal?" she asked in rapid fire.

" **In order, if he becomes immortal then the sealing will be broken and he will ascend to godhood. And secondly there are many different ways that one can become immortal, seriously you would be surprised. One guy named Faust in one of the other universes used necromancy to accomplish it, while another used magic and science to do the same. Becoming immortal is just one of those things that is just so damn difficult to achieve that even though there are many methods, it's almost impossible despite the billions of universes that exist."** Ryuk explained as he took another apple out from who even knows where and began to inhale it.

"So you just want us to keep an eye on him?" Naruto asked gaining a nod from the raven winged god.

"And what? Make sure to fuck up all of his immortality plans?" Kurama finished as both demons begin to get the picture.

" **Yep and in return for your services not only will dad spit out the souls of your parents, but he's also agreed to allow up to one person being resurrected by yours truly."** Ryuk answered gaining a shocked look from both Naruto and Kurama, after a few moments of processing what Ryuk had told them something clicked inside Naruto's head.

"Wait what?! What do you mean 'spit out their souls'?" he asked angrily.

" **Exactly what I said Naruto, he'll spit out their souls. There is a price to pay for summoning my father and it is quite possibly the steepest for anyone,** _ **especially**_ **when using the Dead Consuming Seal. Your parents had to pay that price on the night Kurama was sealed inside of you, ever since then they have been inside of father's stomach together."** Ryuk explained without batting an eye.

"What the fuck?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ANYTHING?!" Naruto screamed.

" **Watch your tone...** _ **boy."**_ Ryuk growled. **"And to answer your question, you simply didn't need to know until now. It served no purpose in telling you till you were ready and you still aren't, but recent circumstances have forced our hands."**

Naruto stood there thinking about all that he had been told, going over it all repeatedly in his head. Thinking about his parents whom he had never met, about the offer to bring back one person from the dead, and how all he had to do was make sure some asshole never became immortal. It sounded crazy and easy in theory, but nothing had ever really been easy in Naruto's life and if anything it had taught him that there was always a catch.

"Do you promise?" Naruto asked looking back up at Ryuk.

" **We gods never go back on our word, a trait you have in common with us."** Ryuk responded.

"When will it end? Keeping an eye on Orochimaru?"

" **When he dies once and for all, being mortal when he finally dies for good his soul will go to hell."** answered Ryuk. **"Where Yami and Jashin will be able to keep him under lock and key, and before you get any ideas no using my blade to destroy his soul won't work."**

"What? How come?" asked Kurama.

" **Because while he may be mortal his soul is still that of a god's, meaning the properties of my blade are powerless on him."**

"*sigh* Fine…...I'll do it." Naruto said tiredly.

"Naruto-kun are you sure?" Kurama asked.

"Yeah I'm sure, if it gets mom and dad out of the Shinigami then so be it. Plus I might just be able to bring one of them back, I'd say that's a fair trade for the pain in the ass duty they want me to take up." answered Naruto as he began to look around the lab. "Well we're here….*sigh* might as well start looking around I guess." Without another word Naruto made an all too familiar hand sign, and in a puff of smoke 10 Shadow Clones puffed into existence. "Alright guys spread out and try to find anything you can, the more we know about this freak the better." he ordered causing the clones to scurry about the lab.

" **Oh and by the way…"** Ryuk called out to Naruto and his clones before they left. **"It's probably for the best that you leave no trace that you were ever here, wouldn't want Orochimaru to ever think you were on to what he did in his private times."** And with that the god disappeared leaving not a trace of his presence, after thinking Ryuk's advice over for a second Naruto sent a mental command to his clones to be careful not to leave any trace.

"Naruto-kun, are you going to be alright?" Kurama asked worriedly knowing that this was a lot for anyone to take in.

"No." he answered honestly. "But that doesn't matter now, I just want to get this over with and get the hell out of here." he said before taking several large swigs from his drinking gourd, the sweet taste of the saki burning its way down his throat doing wonders for his mood.

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Kurama asked before taking off in a random direction. As Naruto watched his companion take off, he got the unmistakable feeling that he wasn't going to like anything that he came across. Resigning himself to his fate Naruto cracked his neck before heading over to what he could only assume was the main desk.

Somewhere in the forests of Fire Country

Fugaku groaned in pleasure as he continued to thrust his member into the mouth of his victim, it had been so easy to snatch him the first time that he had honestly thought it might have been a trap. Having come across the teenager as he was walking down an alley it had been almost too perfect a chance, with a quick scan around to make sure nobody was around Fugaku's eyes flared to life as his Sharingan activated and then morphed before he struck. A well kept secret that only he and his wife Mikoto knew about was the true nature of their eyes, having seen and done unspeakable things during the Third Shinobi War had allowed them to reach new heights of power. Thanks to the war taking both of their siblings as well as their parents caused both him and his wife to gain the Mangekyo Sharingan, something that they wisely kept to themselves and experimented with in private. Spending time pouring over the Uchiha records and scrolls before ultimately going to the Naka Shrine in the compound to read what they could of the Uchiha Tablet, an artifact that was the most closely guarded secret of the Uchiha as only those with the Sharingan could even read it. From there he and Mikoto had discovered that with their Mangekyo Sharingans they could read far more of the tablet than anyone else had ever been able to, and discovered more secrets surrounding their Dojutsu than they had ever imagined. From accounts of the legendary founder of their clan Madara Uchiha and his brother Izuna, they discovered the price that comes with using their Mangekyo's but also a way around it. By transplanting the eyes of another wielder of the Mangekyo Sharingan into one's sockets they could achieve a level that only Madara had been able to achieve, the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. After that however they were incapable of reading much else as the rest of the tablet became blurred and incomprehensible, the only other thing they were able to read was the warning that the eyes must come from a blood relative. This had stumped them both as they had read it till Mikoto caught on to the true meaning, just as in the case of Madara and Izuna in order to awaken the Eternal Mangekyo the eyes must come from a parent or sibling. After many long talks over this and more importantly what they would do Fugaku had managed to talk Mikoto into going into the clan vault with him to where the Uchiha stored the eyes of their deceased loved ones, disguising the 2 week long affair as them just wanting to enjoy a second honeymoon together gave them all the time they needed. After performing the transplantation on each other the effects had been almost immediate, as they saw the world in a way that only one other person had ever been able to. After returning home they had begun to quietly experiment as they both knew that they would undoubtedly gain both similar powers, as well as powers unique only to them.

This was only confirmed the next time that they had gone down to read the Uchiha Tablet once again, now being able to read more about the Sage of Six Paths and how before his death had split his power between his two sons. They were shocked to discover that they were direct descendants of such a mythical figure but were shocked even more, when they discovered that the Sage's sons were the true founders of the Senju and Uchiha clans. Fugaku could still remember how he felt when he learned that fact, that both the Senju and the Uchiha were cousins and yet had been fighting one another for millenia. As he and his wife read they came upon one last piece of information before the tablet became unreadable again, and that was that in order to achieve the power of the Sage would take the union of both bloodlines. That last piece of information had stumped them both for days before the idea had come to him as he was reviewing the case on Orochimaru's experiments, in order to read more of the tablet one would need to gain the next level of their Dojutsu. And since they were near the very end of the tablet that meant that there was only one possible explanation that made sense, that there was another level to their Dojutsu that transcended even the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan…...But what? As Fugaku had thought of this his mind drifted back to what the tablet had said about gaining the power of the Sage of Six Paths, it was then that it came to him. The tablet was talking about the Rinnegan! A Dojutsu said to have belonged only to the Sage of Six Paths, one that was said to hold dominion over all of the possible elements and even life and death. As Fugaku came to this conclusion he began to think it over very carefully, and as he thought about it more the more it became clear to him that it was the only thing that the tablet could have been referring to. But once again Fugaku was stumped as he sat in his office because he knew there was no way he himself would be able to 'create a union of the bloodlines', not unless Mikoto allowed him to knock up Tsunade. Still the only person that he knew who could possibly help him in that endeavor would be Orochimaru, deciding to tell his wife what he had come up with he had taken off for the compound to find her. As he raced through the village heading towards the Uchiha Compound his heart pounding, he wasn't paying attention to where he was going and tripped. Falling down from the tops of trees Fugaku almost face planted a boulder, as it came near time came to an abrupt halt as his eyes morphed into the Eternal Mangekyo and without truly realizing it he quickly spoke.

"Gosutozon(Ghost Zone)..." he said.

As he stopped before hitting the boulder he quickly looked around only to see that not only was he basically floating in mid air, but that instead of the normal black and white that he normally sees with his Dojutsu he could see in color up to a certain degree. Standing up Fugaku looked around only to see much to his surprise Hiashi and his wife Hanna were pressed up against a tree making love, on impulse beginning to look away he stopped as soon as he realized that they were moving way too slowly and hadn't realized he was there. Cautiously walking up to the couple he saw how they seemed to be carrying on as if he wasn't even there, lifting up his hand he placed it on Hiashi's shoulder only to freeze as his mind was assaulted. In that one contact alone Fugaku witnessed how Hiashi had spent the entire day training with Hanna and how he had decided to seduce her after their spar, and with these memories came every sensation up till then that he had felt. Not being able to stop the moan that escaped his throat his mind then drifted to the brief thought of seeing Hanna topless, he was surprised with what happened next as Hanna then ripped off her shirt and bra. Initially confused Fugaku removed his hand from Hiashi's shoulder and decided to try something, concentrating he conjured up the image of Hanna facing the tree as the boulder he had almost ran into floated off the ground. And much to his surprise Hiashi pulled his cock out of Hanna and turned her around, pressing her back up against the tree he entered her from behind as the boulder he noticed was floating a few feet off of the ground. As he thought of what just happened he noticed that there was a strain coming from keeping the jutsu active, deciding to leave he willed the boulder to go back to where it had been and left after quickly cutting chakra off to his eyes.

Fugaku then decided to keep much of what had happened that day to himself as he didn't really know how to explain the ability he had discovered to Mikoto, while he told her all that he had come up with regarding that tablet he had decided to keep the ability 'Gosutozon' a secret. Over the next several months Fugaku experimented in secret with his EMS and discovered that just like with Mikoto he could create unquenchable black flames known as 'Ameterasu' with his left eye, that it was easier to cast all manner of Genjutsus with both of his eyes, and that he could use Gosutozon with his right eye. He didn't know what special ability that Mikoto was capable of yet as it had yet to surface, but he was able to see just how much more powerful they were becoming. And wanting to know all the particulars of his ability Fugaku had spent the months practicing with Gosutozon in the compound, first with small things here and there and then working up to people. Fugaku discovered that he was basically creating a space that he could almost completely control, while it was almost impossible to detect his presence people could to a certain extent know he was there. This he found out as he was talking to Hiashi who had sworn that somebody had touched his shoulder when he was making love to his wife in the woods, keeping that thought in mind Fugaku had decided to see what the absolute extreme limits of his jutsu were. He had gone out into the village when he spotted Mebuki Haruno walking alone down one of the deserted alleys to her home, activating his Dojutsu he quickly used Gosutozon as he dropped down in front of her. The woman had no time to even register what that anyone was even there before she found herself under the effects of the jutsu, with a mere thought from Fugaku the beautiful blonde woman removed her blouse and skirt. Standing there in only her rather naughty lingerie Fugaku noted that there was a very strained look of fear in Mebuki's eyes, placing his hand on her forehead Fugaku saw through the woman's mind that she was completely aware of what was happening. That she had no clue why she was doing what she was doing and that she was _very_ aware of the fact that somebody had placed an invisible hand on her forehead, removing his hand Fugaku couldn't help himself as he looked the woman up and down. She was a truly beautiful woman and had a great body and as these thoughts flew through Fugaku's mind, so too did the absolute knowledge that he had complete control over her and that there was nothing anyone could do about it. Before he could act on that however a few drunks stumbled into the alley laughing and wreaking of saki, much to his and Mebuki's surprise the drunks stumbled right past the two without noticing either of them. Knowing now that as long as the jutsu was active only those within the space that he had created would even be aware of what he was doing, Fugaku couldn't help himself as he reveled in the power and control that he felt at that moment. The knowledge that he couldn't get caught and that he could do whatever he wanted was too much for him in that moment, as brought his hand up and ripped Mebuki's bra off allowing the woman's ample breasts to spill out. Not wasting any time Fugaku bent Mebuki over on all fours in the dirt after removing her panties, taking out his now rock hard tool he then raped the poor woman over and over again.

It was only after he was finished that he had come to his senses as the gravity of what he had done truly set in for him, stuffing his dick back in his pants he left Mebuki lying on the ground crying as he ran home. The next few days Fugaku had been a nervous wreck as he was just waiting for someone to walk in and arrest him, but nothing of the sorts had happened. No one accused him of raping Mebuki, Hiruzen didn't come crashing into his office to take his head, life simply went on as if almost nothing had happened. After a week Fugaku did some discreet digging and discovered from the rape kit that had been done on Mebuki, that the semen that was left behind was warped beyond all recognition and that there was no way to use it to identify anyone with it. While reading this Fugaku let out a sigh as relief washed over him like a tsunami, the irony that he had indirectly been handed a 'get out of jail free card' from the universe not being lost on him. As he walked out of the file room he unconsciously began to form a plan in his head given the turn of events, by the time he had reached his office Fugaku had already come to a decision that would change his village forever.

Over the next several months Fugaku went on a crime spree targeting anyone that struck his fancy, all the while experimenting with his new abilities so that he knew the exact limits of Gosutozon. Learning that he could extend the range of the 'space' that he 'created' up to 30 meters and that the larger the 'space' the more chakra the jutsu required, as well as the fact that as long as he supplied the jutsu with chakra there was no time limit. This had the effect of him building his chakra reserves up as his constant use of the chakra intensive jutsu made his overall reserves skyrocket from where they were before, he also discovered through private training with his wife the full range of his other Mangekyo abilities. How the both of them could control the Ameterasu flames that they created to an extent by willing them to extinguish, both having agreed to master that aspect of the flames before anything else lest they harm one another on accident. Despite what Fugaku did behind Mikoto's back he still loved her deeply and didn't want to see her harmed, they also discovered another secret to their abilities in the form of a jutsu that required the use of both of their eyes. By using both of their eyes they could create a spectral warrior around themselves known as Susano, after this discovery he and Mikoto had delved into the deepest reaches of the Uchiha archives for answers. After a week of serious digging they discovered through a journal that had belonged to Madara himself that the jutsu had several stages, each requiring more chakra than the last to attain but granting more and more power. They obviously couldn't simply train in secret with this ability in just any old training ground, and so they had been forced to take their experiments to the Forbidden Zone of Training Ground 44. Which just so happened to have been where the Tailed Beast Bomb had struck down on the Kyuubi and forever morphed the surrounding area, as it was now it was so dangerous only the absolute most powerful of shinobi were allowed to train there. That and the sheer level of seclusion and distance from everyone and everywhere else had made it the perfect place for them, it was there that they were able to take their training to even greater heights.

But for all of that there still remained his 'hunts' through the village that had become like an addiction to him, he even targeted some of the young Gennin who had just graduated the Academy. All of that paled in comparison however when he managed to use his Sharingan to convince over thirty others to kill the demon brat Naruto, it had been so easy that Fugaku honestly didn't need to use his bloodline but why take the risk? After they had finally cornered and tortured him was the first time that it had even occurred to him to rape the little shit, but he was just as surprised when the rest joined in on the fun. After that night however Fugaku began to target victims of both genders providing they looked feminine enough for him, and while he had to wait quite some time to begin hunting thanks to the Hokage it was well worth the wait. He had his wife after all who he went through _great_ lengths to keep happy and unaware, always thinking that on those nights where he came home at 3am that he had been working. Truly the usefulness of Shadow Clones could not be praised enough, with it he _always_ had an ironclad alibi along with a very well established history. It caused him no small amount of amusement too when he saw the look on Inoichi's face when he asked him for counseling to 'get some things off of his chest', Fugaku had been patting himself on the back with that stroke of genius ever since. Then there was the time that he had assaulted Itachi, if he was being honest with himself Fugaku would admit that even he had large reservations about raping his own son at first. But those thoughts much like what little shred of a conscience he still possessed, died out quickly once Itachi began to moan and buck in response to his member sliding in and out of him. By the end of it all he had climaxed inside of Itachi at least five times, while his son appeared to have came triple that amount if the decent sized pool of semen beneath him was anything to go by.

Pushing that all from his mind Fugaku looked down to the face of the young Chunin he was still fucking, of all of his victims those of the Hyuuga were his absolute favorite. And without a doubt he had hit the jackpot in Ko Hyuuga, Fugaku had first attacked him on the night he made Chunin. He had been celebrating having made Chunin as well as receiving an invitation to join the ANBU, striking when he knew the young man's guard was down the Uchiha Patriarch took his time. What had surprised Fugaku however was that the crime was never reported, it never made it to his desk and after some _very_ discreet snooping around had discovered something rather curious. That not only had the young Hyuuga not reported the crime to anyone, but it appeared that Fugaku might have broken something in the boy. He watched over a period of weeks, as the young Hyuuga began to masturbate solely with his ass in public places from dark alleys to abandoned parks. This had at first put Fugaku off as he immediately thought it was a trick, this lead to his years of training in police work coming into play. Over a couple of months of having Shadow Clones survey Ko, Fugaku noticed that he showed all of the signs of someone who was truly and thoroughly broken. Leading a double life Fugaku saw how Ko would go about his regular life as an ANBU trainee, but whenever he had the chance would walk the streets of Konoha naked. All the while looking for the one who had attacked him, after a while it became obvious to Fugaku that Ko wasn't faking anything. This lead to Ko getting his wish granted one night in the form of a package appearing on his doorstep, inside was a _very_ risque outfit. Little to Fugaku's surprise when he found Ko on his next night off, Ko was wearing the outfit that had been supplied to him. Wearing nothing but a pair of white girly panties designed to hold male equipment but left the anus exposed, a white garter belt with hose, and white 6 inch heel shoes. Fugaku had him pressed up against a tree in the woods before Ko knew what had hit him, receiving no resistance he took the young Hyuuga right there and then.

Pushing that all to the back of his mind Fugaku gave a bark like grunt as he came in Ko's mouth, rolling his eyes back he briefly enjoyed the wave of ecstasy that washed over him. Opening his eyes he looked down to see his slave cleaning him off, as he did Fugaku noticed a large beetle on the back of his hand. Frowning he brought it up so he could see it better, as he did he came to the realization as to what it was having seen it's species countless times before. It was a large Kikaichu beetle, the primary insect utilized by the Aburame Clan. As countless sirens and warning bells began to go off in his head, something hard and heavy smashed into his side sending him flying through the air. After crashing through a few trees Fugaku righted himself and came to a skidding halt on his feet, quickly putting his still hard member back in his pants he looked around noting he was in a clearing of the woods. Before he could do anything however he was struck again without warning, this time being being sent high into the air where he was met by another meteoric blow. Again and again Fugaku was smacked around through the air at a blistering pace like a human pinball going through the air, this proceeded for a few minutes before he was sent back to the sweet embrace of mother earth. Growling Fugaku pushed himself back up out of the crater he had made and stood up ignoring the pain in his back as it popped, looking around the clearing it was apparent he wasn't going anywhere without a serious fight given his company. He was in fact completely surrounded by not only the entire Shinobi Council but also at least a platoon of ANBU, looking around he saw the Hokage in an all black shinobi battle attire with his Adamantine Staff resting on his shoulder. Hiruzen was flanked by both Danzo and Okami Inuzuka and his Nin dogs. Looking around he saw Sibi Aburame, Might Guy, Kakashi who had his Sharingan out, the Ino-Shika-Cho Trio, and even Jaraiya was present.

"Hello Fugaku, what a pleasant surprise to find you here." Hiruzen said the calmness of his face and tone belaying the absolute rage that was in his eyes.

"How?" Fugaku snarled.

"Hmmm? Whatever do you mean?" asked Hiruzen feigning ignorance, before a fake look of realization spread across his features. "Oh! You must be referring to how we figured out you were the 'Ghost' all along."

"Obviously." Fugaku spat. " My alibis have always been _perfect_! What tipped you off?!" he demanded screaming near the end.

"It's simple really." said Okami stepping forward. "Because nobody is naturally _that good_. It should not have even taken 3 years to catch you let alone this long, which meant whoever the Ghost was had to be somebody in a position of power as well as a Shinobi." he explained, as he did so his Nin dogs Akela and Kato began to slowly circle Fugaku from the same distance as their master. "And as I was thinking of this I came to the conclusion that the Ghost had to be someone of high ranking within the Uchiha Police Force, possibly even yourself which is why I paid Hokage-sama a visit."

Chuckling darkly Fugaku rounded back on Hiruzen. "And let me guess….that's when you started to keep tabs on me and several others right?"

"Yes, I had the Inuzuka and Aburame clans discretely keep tabs on everyone within the Police Force." confirmed Hiruzen.

"However that was ultimately getting us nowhere." said Danzo speaking for the first time. "After the a while it became clear that we would need a proper bait to lure you out, I found my bait in the form of Ko Hyuuga." he said prompting the young Chunin to shunshin next to him in standard ROOT ANBU attire. "With Inoichi's help I was able to temporarily program certain behaviors into him, that would go into effect after you initially assaulted him. All of which were based off of his dealings with all of your other victims, studying them through regular therapy it was easy for us to create the perfect Trojan Horse. Somebody who had a damaged and addictive tendency towards anal pleasure, coupled with a need to be dominated and several other symptoms typically found in severe rape victims." Danzo explained causing Fugaku to grit his teeth in anger.

"Ko had always hated our clan for how it treated it's own family members, and had wanted desperately to escape to the ANBU." said Hiashi stepping forward. "Wanting emancipation from our clan in any way possible, when we told him what mission we would have him on he _still_ didn't even hesitate in volunteering." "

"From there we began planting female Kikaichu beetles on him that would let off pheromones that small swarms of males would follow, this allowed us to map out all of Ko's paths that he took as well as all of the spots that you struck." said the Sibi Aburame. "After some time we discovered a pattern in the areas you chose along with the frequency that you would strike, that is how we were able to lay this trap weeks in advance knowing you would most likely return here during the full moon."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Fugaku laughed despite the situation he was currently in he could not help himself but laugh. "Well now….hehehe…..congratulations….. _you caught me!_ " he cackled before quickly regaining his composure and becoming serious once more, something that put most of the ANBU on edge. "This doesn't change anything because no matter what I'm not going down peacefully, you're just going to have to kill me. So….who's going to do it?" he asked gaining nothing but silence from those gathered. As Fugaku looked around he saw four others arrive that made him truly freeze in his tracks, his father Ozai and his two aunts Miho and Kaho all of whom were the Uchiha Elders, and lastly his wife Mikoto. Time seemed to ground to a halt as his Sharingan unconsciously flared to life perfectly memorizing the absolute pain, rage and betrayal on their faces. It cut Fugaku like a knife to see such looks directed towards him from his family, especially his wife, hanging his head he let out a sigh as he understood in that moment that no matter what life as he knew it was over.

"Fugaku…..why?" Mikoto asked barely being able to speak, let alone look at the monster that was her in front of her.

"...I…." Fugaku started to say but stopped, as he couldn't find the words that seemed to have completely abandoned him.

"Fugaku." said Hiruzen gaining the man's attention. "It's over…..Come quietly and face justice like a man, and maybe you'll be able to redeem _some_ of your clan's honor." he said gaining an incredulous look from the fallen shinobi.

"Honor?... What Honor?!" spat Ozai whose face was contorted into one of pure rage, his ability to remain silent having come to an end. "It was only just recently that we as a clan began to fully recover from the rift between us and the village after Madara's betrayal, and that was almost seventy years ago! How will we EVER be able to face the village once this gets out?!" the ancient man screamed, giving voice to something that would eventually cause the village more grief in the near future.

"Calm yourself Ozai." said Danzo. "There are still plenty of ways to handle this without anyone needing to know it was him, we can simply see to it that the world thinks he was killed fighting the true 'Ghost'."

This merely gained a derisive snort form Kaho, rolling her eyes she addressed the mummified shinobi. "Oh and what? You going to guarantee that no form of retribution or harm will come to our clan too? Last time you people made any such promise it was to a cute little boy with fox ears, and look at what happened to him!" she said gaining a wince form Jiraiya and Hiruzen.

"There is absolutely no way for this to NOT get out to the village, the only thing left for us at this point will be to LEAVE KONOHA!" snarled Miho.

"No!" snapped Mikoto gaining everyone's attention. "We will do no such thing, and neither will we try to hide what my…. _husband_ has done." she said addressing Miho and Danzo, spitting out the word 'husband' with more venom than anyone believed was possible. "Even if it takes a century the only way we'll ever be able regain our honor as a clan will be to prostrate ourselves before the village, and do everything we possibly can to earn back their trust!" she said yelling by the end.

"And what exactly do you have in mind?" Fugaku asked causing everyone to look his way once more. "Mikoto there is nothing you can do-"

"SHUT UP!" Mikoto yelled flooding the area with enough to Killing Intent to kill all of the natural wildlife within a square mile of them. "Don't you _dare_ even SPEAK TO ME! You don't get to talk, you've lied to me enough as it is!" she screamed.

"Enough!" barked Okami causing Mikoto to ease off on the Killing Intent, once things had seemed to calm down enough the large man spoke. "Now is not the time for this, we have other pressing matters that need to be taken care of first." Looking over to the disgraced Uchiha Clan Head, Okami could hardly contain the growl in his voice as he addressed the man. "Fugaku Uchiha, by the order of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure. You are hereby under arrest for crimes too numerous to even mention, surrender now or **face my wrath."** he said his voice becoming beastial as his fangs and claws elongated to an intimidating degree, as this happened the same could be said for his two wolf companions whose eyes seemed to almost glow in the night.

"No…." Fugaku responded, a dark shadow covering his eyes. Looking back up everyone could see that his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan was now active, this caused everyone to be put on guard not knowing what to expect next. " I'm not going anywhere with you, you're just going to have to kill me because I'll be _damned_ if I'm going to sit through any sort of trial when we all know what the outcome is going to be anyway! At least I can die fighting with some dignity!" he roared.

This only caused Okami to smile. "I had hoped for nothing less…."

 ***Commencing with the one fight that I have been waiting since the beginning of this fucking story to write! Enjoy! XD**

On an unspoken cue both of Okami's nin dogs Akela and Kato dashed forward at near Jounin level speeds, jumping into the air they both began spinning quickly turning into twin water drills that headed right for Fugaku. Not wasting time with hand signs Fugaku quickly breathed fire from his mouth into his hands, supercharging the fire with chakra he then extended both hands in opposite directions towards the incoming drills and let loose his attack. As Fugaku's Katon jutsu collided with the two water drills it seemed to stall the attacking nin dogs despite their elemental advantage, however both canines meerley continued to spin and as they did so their Suiton variant Tsuga began to display its unique advantage. Thanks to Okami revolutionizing all of his clan's techniques and jutsus by creating not only elemental variants for already existing jutsu but also creating many many more original jutsus, the might and sheer versatility of the Inuzuka Clan had skyrocketed like nothing anyone had ever seen. And when it came to such jutsus as the Tsuuga, Gatsuga, and the Garuga, Okami had made sure to create a variant of the jutsus for each nature element. By adding an element to the jutsus it easily made the overall power of the jutsu jump up an entire rank, making the standard C rank Tsuuga easily grow in power to a B rank jutsu. And on top of that due to the elemental chakra being used it had unseen benefits that augmented the clan jutsu even further, which lead to far greater versatility for clan members and their partners.

The Katon variant surrounded the user in a large piercing drill of fire that generated massive amounts of heat, that alone could cook an opponent even if they managed to avoid being directly hit with the jutsu. The Fuuton variant not only allowed the user to drill through the air at a much faster speed but the cutting Fuuton chakra would devastate whatever the drill struck, while at the same time anything within 15 ft. of the jutsu would be cut up my dozens of wind blades generated from the jutsu. Meanwhile the Doton variant was the slowest of the elemental variants being the same speed as the regular clan jutsus, however it made up for its lack of speed by not only protecting the user from practically anything but also dealt massive amounts of blunt force damage. This made it a favorite of some within the clan how managed to make it into the Konoha Demolition Corps, as they were able to use it to smash through anything with impunity. When it came to the Raiton variant it was a far different story as it was hands down fastest of all, turning the user and his/her nin dog into streaking drills of pure lightning. It was also discovered that the Raiton variant gave them the added bonus of generating enough electricity to shock anyone within 15 ft. of the jutsu, momentarily paralyzing them. And finally the Suiton variant which could potentially be the most devastating and destructive, was unique in that by initially spitting water from your mouth while spinning and generating Suiton chakra to create a very large water drill. The jutsu didn't stop there as it would eventually begin to literally draw water from the air itself much like how the Second Hokage was able to, and from there the new water would spin around the Suiton drill acting like a large mobile maelstrom that would pull victims in towards the drill. But what was worse was that as long as the user and his partner continued to spin and supply the jutsu with chakra, the more and more water they could generate potentially leading to creating literal tsunamis. This had been confirmed when Okami had done the same such thing during his three on one fight against the Sannin, and so this is the effect that began to appear as Akeela and Kato's Suiton Tsuugas quickly gained more powerful and gained ground against Fugaku's Katon attack.

As Fugaku looked back and forth between the two oncoming attacks he knew he would have to make a move soon other than his stalling tactic, looking for where Okami might be he received his answer when he found the man standing off to the side blazing through hand signs. But before Fugaku could do anything two massive clawed hands covered in what appeared to be claws of Fuuton chakra, shot up out of the ground from beneath Fugaku and gripped him tightly around his shins and ankles. Fugaku bit back the scream that threatened to rip through him as he felt what had to belong a Shadow Clone's jutsu cut deeply into his flesh, knowing all too well of Okami's patented elemental claw jutsus Fugaku prepared to Substitute out of there but it was too late.

"Raiton: Electromagnetic Murder!" Okami called out before slamming his clawed hands onto the ground, obscene amounts of cackling Raiton chakra tore through the ground traveling towards the disgraced Uchiha. As it struck the sheer volume of water that had been generated from Akeela and Kato's Tsuugas had all but completely surrounded Fugaku, as the electricity made contact with the Suiton jutsus it danced around him what could only be described as a truly breathtaking display before electrocuting him. With the three way attack now making contact with Fugaku the man was struck from all sides at once as he was swept up and battered, by a small tsunami of water that had been supercharged with enough electricity to power most of the lights in Konoha. As this was happening Fugaku's eyes pulsed with power despite the massive amounts of damage he was personally taking, when all was said and done the water had dispersed leaving a very soggy clearing with only Fugaku lying on his side in the middle of it. As all of those who were gathered to watch jumped down from the tree branches that they had been watching, meanwhile Okami merely cracked his neck before holding up his hand motioning for the rest to halt. Whatever they might have had to say died in their throats as Fugaku began laughing as he slowly got back up from the ground, as electricity sporadically cackled around him he looked back towards his opponent grinning.

"Hehehehe…..gotta hand it to you mutt, you don't fuck around." he sneered as he quickly pulsed Raiton chakra throughout his body in order to purge it of the electricity's effects. "Now that we've kicked this off on the right foot what do you say we liven things up a little?" he asked mockingly gaining a grim smile from his opponent. Hiking his sleeves up it was noticed that on his left arm he revealed not only a Summoning Tattoo which most likely belonged to his Crow Summons, but another smaller Storage Seal Tattoo on the underside of his wrist. Placing his right hand over the tattoo underneath his wrist he pulsed some chakra into it and in a poof of smoke a large weapon appeared in hand, it was a weapon that Fugaku had used in all of his missions since he had become a Chunin at the age of 10 and in the Third Shinobi War. It was a large double bladed sword that could also double as a spear if needed, the blades where wide and thick extending 2.5 ft. each while the handle alone was 4 ft. in length. With a minotaur skull them in the decorations it was a very fearsome weapon, giving the weapon a few swings Fugaku easily slid into a readied stance while Okami did the same. **(think the weapon that Theseus wielded in God of War 2, just google image it.)** Disappearing into a pair of blurs both combatants began tearing up the surrounding landscape as they did battle, matching one another blow for blow. For most of the ANBU watching it was a first time experience seeing two powerful masters of their craft cut loose, as most had only ever heard stories about the two men who could both easily have become Hokage if they desired. As Fugaku and Okami battled it was clear to everyone that while both were an even match in pure speed and maneuverability, Okami was hands down the more physically powerful of the two as each swing of his chained Cerberus Claws would strike like a meteor. However Fugaku had chosen wisely in his weapon of choice as he was not only able to keep Okami at a distance whenever it suited him, but getting in close he could perform lightning fast stabs and broad sweeping slashes as well as easily deflect or redirect anything that came his way. This coupled with the advantages of his Sharingan blazing in its Eternal Mangekyo form meant that he could see everything that was about to come his way and react accordingly, this lead to what most of the people watching on would later describe as the most breathtaking stalemate they had ever seen between an unstoppable force and an immovable object. Breaking off neither opponent appeared to be winded as they quickly stashed their weapons on magnetic strips that ran along the backs of their flack jackets, after both completed hand signs they called out their respective Jutsus.

"Katon: Searing Migraine!" Fugaku yelled before spitting out a massive stream of fire that traveled along the ground towards Okami.

"Suiton: Gatsuga!" Okami roared before he and Akeela both spun through the air turning into large water drills, meeting the massive inferno head on they drilled right through the center of the jutsu. As they punched through it was clear to everyone that Okami's other nin dog Kato hadn't been idle, having burrowed through the ground only to shoot up from behind Fugaku and sink his teeth and claws into the man. What was more was that the large wolf had channeled large amounts of Katon chakra to his teeth and claws, causing second degree burns wherever teeth and claw met vulnerable flesh.

Cancelling his jutsu while still in mid air Okami spun around whilst bringing his chained hook blades out, with a single swing both caught Fugaku before he could mount a defense. While the blades luckily didn't pierce his flesh due to their angle, the sheer force of the impact guaranteed a few broken ribs. With Fugaku hooked he was then swung through the air as Okami landed on his feet, after being swung through multiple trees he was then flung high up into the air before being brought back down to the earth for a second time that night. As the dust quickly settled Fugaku burst into smoke revealing a dead ANBU that he had substituted with, before Okami could react he began to see his world turn pitch black before finding himself in another world. As he witnessed the change in scenery he saw every single one of Fugaku's assaults play out before his eyes, and with them came all of the sensations that the disgraced Uchiha had delighted in. Knowing that he was in a Genjutsu he quickly formed a ram sign and dispelled the illusion, which was luckily just in time for him to whip around and block an overhead axe kick from his opponent. Fugaku not even letting the fact that his genjutsu had been dispelled faze him kicked off of Okami's arms, as soon as his feet touched the ground he engaged Okami in Taijutsu all the while channeling large amounts of Raiton chakra to his fists and feet. Okami noticing this quickly did something similar using a jutsu that he had created to be used by either his clan members or their nin dogs, covering his fingers in large claws made out of Raiton chakra the two of them went at it. Back and forth the two of them went both showing just how different their respective Taijutsu styles were, as well as just how much skill they possessed with them. Using his clan's style the Interceptor Fist, Fugaku had augmented it many years ago for himself by learning how to quickly load elemental chakra into all of his strikes. This coupled with the predictive abilities of his Sharingan allowed Fugaku to react in time to all of Okami's attacks, launching into perfect precise counters for everything that came his way as he went toe to toe with the massive man. But what frustrated him was that Okami was fighting him with his eyes closed relying fully on his other senses, which meant that Fugaku wouldn't be able to catch Okami in any sort of Sharingan Genjutsu in such short quarters. But what truly angered the already frustrated Uchiha was the natural aspects of Okami's Taijutsu style, which were so random and yet fluid that even with his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan active Fugaku couldn't find anything resembling a pattern of attack. The Inuzuka's had truly perfected their clan Taijutsu style to be unpredictable, which only proved to him that they were once again at a stalemate. Growling Fugaku quickly broke off the engagement by jumping back to gain some distance, dodging Okami's nin dogs as he did so. Grabbing his double bladed sword from his back he spun it around channeling Raiton and Katon chakra to both blades, as the weapon flared to life in his hands his eyes pulsed with power.

"Hijutsu: Hound Claw!" Okami roared as he charge at Fugaku, his left hand brought back for a strike. Seeing this Fugaku jumped back just in time to dodge the attack as Okami's clawed hand struck where he had been standing, a massive crater was created as dust and chunks of earth were sent flying. Seeing how the destruction was comparable to what Tsunade could dish out when enraged, Fugaku quickly activated the next part of his strategy.

"Gosutozon…." and with that the entire clearing was flooded with what could only be considered a negative version of the world around them, as if they were in a large black bubble that prevented them from leaving. As this happened everyone who was caught in the jutsu appeared to be only capable of moving, moving so slow it looked like they were playing a children's game. As they all attempted to move to safety Fugaku couldn't help the laugh that ripped through him, turning around he saw his wife Mikoto who looked like she was in the middle of making a break to safety having just turned around. As he walked over to her he noticed how several of the other Shinobi Councilmembers were all stuck in the process of either trying to escape or cast a jutsu of their own, even Okami's nin dogs were still spinning through the air just in extreme slow motion. Stepping in front of his wife Fugaku allowed himself a brief moment of weakness as he stopped to look at her, his eyes memorizing the worried and hurt look that her face wore. At this moment she looked more vulnerable than he had ever seen her, as the grief began to eat away at him he paid no mind to the tears that fell freely down his cheeks. Cupping the side of her face he place the softest most tender kiss he could muster on her lips, pouring all of his emotion into it and transfering all of his feelings into her so that she knew just how sorry he was. As this happened Fugaku was likewise racked with the memories and emotions that he received from his wife, each new emotion like another twist of the knife in his heart as he became intimately aware of just how _betrayed_ the love of his life felt.

"Are you done?" came a deep gruff voice from several yards off, like a bucket of ice water being dumped on him Fugaku whipped around. What he saw shocked him to his core as there stood Okami Inuzuka with his Claws of Cerberus in hand, the hooked blades glowing with the same unholy purple light that they were infamous for.

"H-How?!" Fugaku gasped.

"Let's just say that the story behind these magnificent blades holds more water than you would think." Okami replied as he used one of the blades to casually scratch his cheek.

"Huh…..no kidding…" Fugaku muttered. "Well then I guess I'll just have to aim my next attack where it will do the most damage…" he snarled as he whipped around and threw his weapon which was still loaded with elemental chakra like a spear. As Okami moved for the flying weapon he tracked its trajectory and snarled when he realized that it was heading to impale his mate Tsume, not having any real time or choice as Fugaku cancelled his jutsu Okami did the only thing he could. Tsume for herself was confused as she suddenly found herself in her husband's arms, looking up she saw blood streaming down from the sides of his mouth. Looking down she saw Fugaku's sword sticking out of his gut, before she could even react Okami reached around with his free hand and yanked the weapon out of his body before tossing it to the ground.

"Okami-kun!" she cried as she found her voice.

"Don't worry my little Lupa, I'll survive." Okami said reasurredly, whipping around he caught a kick from Fugaku and then promptly slammed him on the ground. Not letting go Okami roared and began to repeatedly slame the Uchiha on the ground like a rag doll, before spinning around and throwing him though the air only to land in a tumbling heap. Cracking his neck Okami bit back a growl as his partners Akeela and Kato ran up and chomped down on each of his forearms, something that caught almost everyone off guard.

"What the devil?!" Hiruzen exclaimed upon seeing this, a sentiment that everyone gathered shared having no idea why such loyal companions would behave in such a way.

"Sweetheart? Does this mean what I think it means?" Tsume asked worriedly.

"Hai my Lupa it does." Okami replied, looking back towards Fugaku who was visibly perplexed he answered. "It's a special Medical Ninjutsu that I created for my clan, one that only works between an Inuzuka and their partner. When one is injured the other bites down into that one's body and channels healing chakra through their teeth into the other's body, working together they both increase the volume of chakra being used in the jutsu while also remaining in control of it. I only just recently added it to my clan's scroll after perfecting it, it's named Kiba after my son." he explained calmly.

"And what makes you think that I'm going to just sit back and allow you to heal yourself?!" spat Fugaku as he began building up large amounts of chakra.

"Because I'm already healed." Okami answered simply as both of his nin dogs removed their maws from his arms, and began to affectionately lick the blood off of him.

"Well it's been fun but I think it's time to end this." Fugaku said as he became surrounded in dark blue chakra which quickly took shape as a large spectral warrior around him. "Susano." he said as more chakra was fed to the jutsu which caused it to further solidify going through what appeared to be various stages, starting off as a skeleton it quickly grew muscles and skin and eventually robed armor.

"Fugaku no!" Mikoto cried out from her vantage point next to Hiruzen and the Uchiha Elders.

"I supposed you should count yourself lucky." Fugaku casually remarked. "There's only one more stage to this jutsu that I honestly just have not been able to reach yet, the final stage to Susano is capable of easily over powering Bijuu…..lets see how you fare against this stage." he sneered as the massive chakra construct which was easily larger than most Boss Summons created a massive spear similar to the double bladed sword Fugaku preferred to wield.

"You know…..you read my mind…" Okami simply said, going through what had to be dozens of hand signs at blistering speeds he ended on the Ram sign. "Restraint Seals…..Release!" As this happened there was a brief second of pure silence before seemingly everywhere in several square miles was slammed with an overwhelming _pressure_ , that was coming purely from Okami as he flexed his chakra to the maximum causing the earth beneath him to become destroyed leaving him standing within a very large crater. Going through more hand signs Okami called out as both of his nin dogs landed on his back. "Kinjutsu: Okami-tachi. _(The Wolves)_ " Releasing all of the chakra that he had built up Okami momentarily blinded everyone, as everybody's vision returned they saw that Okami was not standing in the same spot anymore. But was instead floating in midair about eye level with Fugaku's Susano, alongside him were his nin dogs and what appeared to be dozens upon dozens of chakra wolves who were all howling and snarling at Fugaku.

"Hmpf, I see you finally figured out the Tsuchikage's flying ability." Fugaku acknowledged before adding snidely. "How long did it take you to do that? The last time I checked you were still throwing up every time you tried."

"Motion Sickness…..it's a bitch." Okami answered calmly. "It's actually easy considering it revolves around the Lightened Boulder Jutsu, one simply has to master it to a degree where they can effectively use it on themselves. Something that requires a deceptively large amount of control to do, which is why it's mostly only Jounin from Iwa that are seen using it."

"That's well and good but we have more pressing matters to attend to." snarled Fugaku as he moved causing his Susano to attack, bringing the massive chakra weapon bearing down on Okami who quickly dodged. Meanwhile Akela and Kato both turned into a pair of Fuuton and Katon drills and sped towards Fugaku's Susano, as the two nin dogs flew through the air they combined into one massive drill of pure white flames. Fugaku seeing this merely laughed till the drill struck the side of his Susano catching him off guard, looking down he saw that not only had the attack actually damaged his Susano but had almost gotten down to the ribs of his construct. Growling he swung around only to see both of the dogs running up one of the Susano's arms side by side, before they could do anything however Fugaku went through some hand signs and spat out a large gust of wind from the Susano's mouth. This caught the two dogs and sent them hurtling off of the arms they were running on, as they disappeared from sight Fugaku looked back towards Okami who had been analyzing the brief skirmish.

"Impressive…..not many things can stand up to flames that hot." Okami complimented.

"You're going to have to step your game up if you want to do anything other than piss me off, I can take hits like that all day." Fugaku replied with a smirk as the damage dealt to his Susano had already been repaired.

"Oh I know….that's why I brought them." Okami responded while jerking his thumb at the chakra wolves that were all floating behind him, barely even waiving his pointer finger at Fugaku he simply said one word. "Eat…." And on cue the chakra wolves all tore through the air towards Fugaku at impressive speeds, Fugaku now slightly wary of what Okami might be up to quickly made his Susano bring its massive weapon to bear on the first handful of wolves to reach him. As the massive chakra weapon collided with the group of chakra wolves, the ensuing explosion rocked his entire Susano causing it to lose balance and get knocked to the ground. Not having any time to recover the chakra wolves descended on the each wolf hammering it with one large explosion after the other, each one taking a piece of the Susano with it. After the onslaught was finished Fugaku shook his head to clear it of the ringing in his ears, meanwhile his mind was moving at the speed of light as it replayed the last several moments.

" _Those wolves…..they acted like missiles. I bet if I had tried to dodge they would have simply followed me for as long was needed…"_ Fugaku thought as his mind shifted to not just Okami's dogs attacking him but more specifically what Okami had been doing the entire time. _"When he called out his jutsu it was labeled as a Forbidden Jutsu, which would explain the power behind even one of those fucking wolves. I bet those things could easily maul a dozen shinobi each before detonating, but why didn't Okami make a move himself?"_ the disgraced clan head wondered as his mind replayed the part where Okami not only dodged the initial swipe from his Susano, but had also stayed back to watch his nin dogs do the fighting. As realization dawned on Fugaku he willed his Susano back onto its feet while feeding it more chakra in order to repair the damage it had received, knowing he couldn't afford to allow such a thing to happen twice he quickly went on the attack. Putting his plan into motion he pressed the attack on Okami chaining a large series of attacks with his massive chakra weapon, while at the same time paying attention to Okami's movements.

Fugaku was not disappointed to see his suspicions confirmed as Okami continued to dodge by flying through the air, as the Inuzuka did he continued to create more and more wolf missiles to pepper Fugaku. Counting on this the Susano grew an extra set of fully formed and armored arms out of its back, which then created what appeared to be several magatama beads in each hand. As the next barrage of wolf missiles began to converge on Fugaku his Susano flung the beads in a large spread shot pattern, casting them in almost all directions they detonated in midair each creating massive explosions that took the missiles with them. As the smoke cleared Fugaku sensing an incoming attack whipped his Susano around in time to have his chakra weapon deflect a colossal water drill, one that looked more like a flying tsunami than anything else. While Fugaku had been able to deflect the attack if only just barely, this didn't stop the jutsu from still dealing damage as it took all four of the Susano's arms with it.

As the drill dispersed in midair Fugaku could see Okami floating in the air alongside his nin dogs, a grim smile on the massive man's face as despite the situation could not help himself in enjoying the battle. A sentiment that Fugaku begrudgingly shared.

"You'll have to better than that!"

"So you figured out the weakness did you?" Okami asked chuckling.

"Why else would you go through such lengths to dodge and avoid direct combat?" Fugaku answered back. "You can't directly engage in combat as long as you're using that jutsu, I could see you constantly feeding it chakra to control and direct those missiles of yours as well as create new ones. Which would explain now why you spent all these years trying to master the ability of flight, you were doing it so you could cancel out that jutsu's weakness."

"Aye…..I can't tell you how many times I lost my lunch mastering flight but dammit if it wasn't worth it all along, fighting like this I could easily take on entire battalions." Okami fired back with no small amount of pride in his voice.

"Well good for you…." Fugaku retorted sarcasm clearly evident in his voice. "But I've had enough of these games, it's time we ended this once and for all!" he yelled as he began to pump obscene amounts of chakra into his Susano causing it to not only grow but to also become engulfed in black flames that somehow seemed to glow in the moonlight.

"And once again you read my mind." replied Okami as he began to weave an incredibly long string of hand signs than no one watching could keep up with.

"Fugaku noooo!" Mikoto cried out as she easily recognized what the flames that were surrounding Fugaku's Susano were, flames that continued to grow and begin to coalesce into what looked like a black sun.

"Mikoto what is it?!" Hiruzen asked sensing the urgency in the Uchiha Matriarch's voice.

"Those aren't normal flames! They're the pinnacle of Katon Release, they can't be quenched and will burn forever!" Mikoto replied worriedly as panic began to take over her.

"What?!" cried Tsume as she looked back at her long time friend. "How is that possible?!"

"They come from Hell, it's known as Ameterasu!" Mikoto answered as her Sharingan blazed into its Eternal Mangekyo form. "I also have the same ability, if you stay close to me I can keep the flames from killing us all and possibly save Okami!"

"That won't be necessary!" called out Okami much to everyone's shock, finishing his hand signs he then swung his Claws of Cerberus down to wrap around his two nin dogs before roaring at the top of his lungs. "Inuzuka Style Rare Beast Transformation: The Forbidden One!" The Inuzuka Clan Head was then engulfed in a massive explosion of smoke that spread out to cover the entire area, one that required Hiruzen and Danzo to use Fuuton jutsus in order to disperse it and when they did everyone was frozen in place by what they saw. Standing there towing over everything around it was a colossal three headed dog that was at least as large as the Kyuubi, and with a body that was covered in powerful muscles that gave it the appearance that it had more likely been carved out of a mountain.

"Wh…...What the hell is that thing?!" cried one of the ANBU having soiled himself.

"Oh...Kami no…" Tsume gasped as she looked on at the scene unfolding before her, knowing full well what this meant.

As Fugaku finished his preparations he looked back at his adversary who had turned into something that belonged in a PTSD inducing nightmare, growling he called out what his jutsu. "Black Sun!" he roared as his Susano hefted what truly looked like a black sun of hell fire, that was easily the size of a boss summon forward as he charged forward.

" **Five Elements All Consuming Fang!"** the now bestial voice of Okami roared out from all three heads as it spun through the air, as it did so it quickly generated all five of the elements of nature into one large drill. As this happened the different elements spun around one another before almost seamlessly combining with one another, the end result being a colossal drill that appeared to have all of the colors of the rainbow within it. As the two attacks met head on Mikoto quickly gathered everyone that she could close to her before covering them in her purple Susano, an act that saved all of their lives from the resulting fallout. As the two jutsus clashed they struggled for dominance over the other as neither side gave even an inch, which resulted in a massive crater being formed underneath the two opposing shinobi as they both attempted to gain the upper hand. However much to Fugaku's shock and horror Okami's jutsu began to drill and eat its way through his attack, causing all of the Ameterasu flames that he had collected and compressed to disperse covering both his Susano as well as Okami's jutsu in hell fire as it struck home. The resulting explosion created a blinding white light that lit up the night sky as well as the surrounding countryside, for what seemed like an eternity no one could see anything nor hear anything except for the all consuming ringing in their ears and blinding light. As everyone slowly came to they began look around at the destruction that was surrounding them through the still erected Susano, as they did they noticed Mikoto wheezing and gasping for air as she quickly dispersed the Susano and sank to the ground. Only to be helped back up by Tsume and Jiraiya, as they looked around for any signs of the two shinobi they saw Fugaku emerge from the dispersing smoke, much to their surprise he appeared to be almost completely unscathed. As they saw him lightly panting for air in the distance, they quickly noted that something was off in his appearance. As Fugaku began to look around the area for Okami who seemed to have disappeared, they saw how his right eye was completely milky white.

"Izanagi…." Mikoto said as she regained her breath.

"What are you talking about?" asked Jiraiya as he continued to study Fugaku.

"It's a Forbidden Jutsu of the Mangekyo Sharingan…..it allows you to completely remove the boundaries between reality and illusion for a short time within your personal space. While active…...a user can rewrite anything that has happened from injuries to even death, back during the Warring States Period it was normal for those in my clan to use the jutsu to bring themselves back to life during battle." explained Mikoto as she straightened back up, letting out a deep breath she continued. "Some users would even expand the range of the jutsu as far as they could, so that they could also bring back as many of their fallen kinsmen back to life with them and turn the tide of entire battles."

"Dear kami…." said Hiruzen as his mind raced through all of the implications of such a jutsu.

"It's not without a price however…." said Ozai as he stood next to his daughter-in-law. "Anyone who uses the jutsu will forever go blind in one of their eyes, losing the ability to see or even wield their Sharingan. So should one possess the Mangekyo then they would lose whatever abilities they had with that particular eye forever."

"So that slimy bastard cheated death at the cost of one of his eyes?" asked Tsume immediately regretting it having seen Mikoto wilt. "Miko….I'm sorry I-"

"Don't worry Tsume-chan…." Mikoto said cutting her friend off, despite her eyes tearing up.

Whatever was going to be said between the two kunoichi was interrupted however as they all heard a scream, looking over to the source they saw Fugaku who had both of his legs pinned by both of Okami's nin dogs who had bitten down deep into his legs. Before the disgraced Uchiha could even attempted to remove them Okami made his presence known as he jumped out from the surrounding smoke, with a roar the showed off a mouth full of razor sharp teeth Okami bit down deep into Fugaku's left arm. The scream that followed was one that would haunt most of the gathered shinobi for the rest of their lives, with a brutal and vicious jerk Okami ripped off Fugaku's arm just above the elbow. An act that caused Fugaku to be thrown overhead several feet through the air, landing roughly Fugaku rolled a few more feet before coming to a stop. Still screaming in utter agony Fugaku rolled around in the dirt for several seconds before forcing himself to calm down as much as possible, still gasping for air he fished a kunai out of one of his holsters with his remaining hand.

Biting down on the handle Fugaku covered his right hand in fire and pressed it to the stump, the former Uchiha Clan Head let out a strangled yell as he cauterized the wound. Looking back to his enemy he saw Okami was cleaning himself off as best as he could, while both of his nin dogs had already chomped down on both of his legs. Getting a better look at the Inuzuka, Fugaku could see that the large man was healing at a good pace as many of the burns and wounds that he had suffered from their last clash were slowly disappearing. Though with a quick flash of his Sharingan Fugaku discovered that Okami seemed to be running about as low on chakra as he was, taking stock of his options Fugaku knew that he stood no chance as things were now. The only reason why he was even alive at this point was because Okami had needed his partners to heal him after biting Fugaku's arm off, as things stood fighting against a physically recovered Okami in his condition was suicide. Reaching into his shinobi pouch Fugaku fished out a blood pill to replace all of the blood he had lossed, gulping it down quickly he then fished out all of the chakra pills he had on hand. With a groan Fugaku rolled over onto his right side and with some difficulty pushed himself up off the ground, the chakra pills still clenched in his fist. Fugaku knew he had lost and that his only option now was to either let himself be captured, continue to fight to the death, or cut his losses and retreat. With a growl Fugaku brought his hand up and swallowed all of the chakra pills he had, as he immediately felt the effects of the pills kick in he glared over at Okami who had finished healing himself.

Going through one handed hand signs as best as he could Fugaku slammed his hand down on the ground as he called out his jutsu. "Summoning Jutsu!" In an explosion of smoke that hid him from sight, it didn't take long for everyone to see a large object shoot out of the smoke and into the air. Standing on the back of a massive crow everyone could see Fugaku trying to wrap the stump where his left arm used to be in bandages, as the crow flapped its wings to hover in the air it cocked its head around looking at the destroyed landscape.

" **What the devil happened here?! Fugaku what's going on?!"** the Crow Boss cawed as he craned his neck to look over his shoulder at his summoner, only to look Fugaku in the eye.

"Silence Jacken….and Obey!" Fugaku screamed as he quickly subdued his summons with a Sharingan based genjutsu, his remaining Eternal Mangekyo blazing.

"You would stoop that low?!" roared Hiruzen in anger not believing what he had just seen.

"Fugaku you _bastard_!" screamed Jiraiya as all of those gathered gave voice to how they felt about what they had just seen.

"You're a disgrace to the Uchiha!" spat Ozai, Miho, and Kaho almost simultaneously.

"How could you?!" cried Tsume who was holding a now sobbing Mikoto.

"Is there anything you _won't_ do?!"

"Hell as a special place for you!"

"SHUT UP!" roared Fugaku as he rounded on all of them. "I don't give a damn what you or anyone else thinks of me! I will do what I want, when I want, and to whomever I want, whenever I damn well please! Now be consumed by OBLIVION!" the now deranged Uchiha screamed as his left Mangekyo pulsed with power. As Fugaku continued to dump chakra into his jutsu something began to appear before him and his summons, quickly taking shape it looked like a clear diamond shaped chakra construct.

"Prometheus Lense" Fugaku called out as he began to build up as much chakra as he could while going through one handed signs, something which took time for him to do. Noticing the directions that the large chakra construct was pointed at Okami quickly Shunshinned to in front of Hiruzen and the others, forming an hand he and his dogs quickly returned to their Cerberus Form. Snarling up at Fugaku Okami quickly began to build up as much of his chakra as they could for whatever it was that was coming their way, as this happened more and more black flames appeared only to fly into the chakra lense in obscene amounts. Meanwhile the Crow Boss began to flap his powerful wings whilst generating massive amounts of Fuuton chakra, causing what looked like miniature tornados to also fly into the large lense. After a few moments of this the large lense was glowing an unholy blackish purple causing Fugaku to smirk as he looked down at his former comrades, taking out a kunai he slashed his headband before addressing Okami.

"Let's see if you can drill through this you bastard!" Fugaku yelled before forming the hand sign for release. "Kai!"

" **Five Elements All Consuming Fang!"** Okami roared as he once again activated his jutsu, taking off toward the flames as a pure white drill.

As the two attacks met both created a massive crater beneath them kicking up dust, rocks and debris, as both opponents struggled for dominance once more. As both attacks continue to struggle for dominance, it seemed like Okami's massive drill was being pushed back at a steady pace, only for it to surge forward and gain more ground. This continued for several minutes as both opponents attacks went back and forth, gaining and losing ground on one another with neither truly gaining the upper hand. As time went on however Fugaku's attack began to waiver and lessen as not only was he fast running out of chakra, but was running out of flames as the massive drill he was battling seemed to be eating the Ameterasu flames themselves. As this happened Okami's jutsu rapidly gained ground till it was almost on top of Fugaku and his summons, before the drill could break through the massive Prometheus Lense, Fugaku quickly had his summon veer off to the side as he deactivated the jutsu. This act alone saved his life as the colossal drill sped past him only to disperse hundreds of feet in the air, revealing a tired and worn out Okami holding onto both of his now dead wolf companions.

As he floated in midair for a few moments Okami's eyes locked onto the retreating form of Fugaku as he made his escape heading North, letting out a low growl he slowly lowered himself back to the ground in the center of the crater that he had made. As fatigue quickly began to take over he did a single hand sign before channeling the chakra into his weapons, as this happened a single shadow clone appeared next to him. Quickly taking the Claws of Cerberus from Okami the Shadow Clone quickly left just as Hiruzen and the others arrived, as this happened Okami felt even more exhausted as he collapsed to one knee.

"Okami-kun!" shouted Tsume as she rushed to her mate's side, only for him to collapse to the ground on his side.

"Don't say anything and just rest, we'll have a Medic Nin patch you up." said Jiraiya as he finished dispatching a pair of ANBU to fetch help.

"Haaaaa…..won't…..do any good…" wheezed Okami as Tsume rested his head on her lap.

"Don't talk like that you're going to be fine." Mikoto assured.

"No….he won't." answered Tsume sadly causing several alarms to go off in the heads of those gathered.

"What are you talking about?" Hiruzen asked seriously.

"That Jutsu he used…...it comes at the price of the user's life. It's as one hundred percent lethal as using all of the Eight Gates, but in return you're able to drill through _anything_ and as you do the jutsu will literally consume the chakra of any opposing attack." Tsume explained as she gently stroked Okami's head as the man seemed to be slowly falling asleep.

"No…" Mikoto gasped as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Fuck." swore Jiraiya and Hiruzen.

"I….love you….Tsume…." Okami said softly as his eyes slowly began to close for the last time, a peaceful smile on his face as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Okami No!" Tsume cried as she clutched her husband and held him close to her chest, not being able to maintain her composure anymore the infamously proud woman broke down crying. As this happened everyone stood in silence, as those who knew Tsume best tried to say something to comfort the grieving woman.

"Jiraiya…" Hiruzen spoke softly as he pulled his student along with Danzo off to the side. " Send out the word to every single Shinobi Village and every single nation, that Fugaku is now an S class criminal with a kill on sight order. I want him listed in every single Bingo book in the world, with a bounty of 150 million."

"I'll leave immediately to hunt him down as well, I can get in touch with my spy Network and have them keep an eye out for him." said Jiraiya grimly.

"Good see to it that you do just that, Danzo I want you to have your operatives the spread out to every nation. We we can't allow him even a minute to breathe, giving him even an inch will allow him to take several miles." instructed Hiruzen. " I don't want Fugaku to be able to create any aliases or fake passports, he's probably going to head to one of the out posts to receive emergency medical attention under the guise of being on a mission."

"Way ahead of you Hiruzen." Said Danzo before dispelling in a puff of smoke revealing to be a Shadow Clone.

" *sigh*... figures…." Hiruzen ground while rubbing his temples to stave off a headache. Looking back to where Jiraiya was he saw that his student was already gone having left to hunt down Fugaku, turning back to those that were still gathered Hiruzen strode forward already planning his next move.

Late December, seven and a half months later

The shinobi world had been rocked to its core after the news about what happened back in April became public, for a long time nobody could believe it and some didn't want to. The news that Fugaku Uchiha, one of the most feared and respected men in the world was the serial rapist known as 'The Ghost' spread like wildfire in a matter of weeks. By the end of the first month the entire world knew the story, especially in regards to the massive battle that had ensued between Fugaku and Okami Inuzuka. The news of Okami's death alone was just as hard to believe as no one believed that the 'Titan of Konoha' could be killed, and what was more was that war had almost broken out once again. After Fugaku's escape, but before word had gotten out about what had happened, all of the other nation's had noticed a colossal mobilization of Konoha's shinobi forces that were being sent out in all directions. Almost all of the other nations and their respective shinobi villages had believed that Konoha was going to war with the world till they found out what was really going on, after holding a summit meeting with most of the Daimyo and kages Hiruzen had explained what had happened. And from there the largest manhunt in known history began, with all of the other villages and nations agreeing to help thanks to Hiruzen's brilliant political skills.

It was discovered that Fugaku had indeed gone to one of the farthest shinobi outposts to receive emergency medical attention, as expected Fugaku had given the shinobi there on duty a false story about being on mission. Telling the staff there that he was returning from an S rank mission gone wrong and that he needed to hurry back to Konoha to report in, Fugaku had even ordered the Jounin in charge of the outpost to send a Priority Black scroll via messenger hawk to the Hokage so that he knew to expect him. It was a brilliant lie that worked perfectly given the condition Fugaku was in when he had arrived, looking like he had just left a massive battle field. The shinobi were horrified when they heard from the Hokage himself that Fugaku was a traitor and was the serial rapist 'The Ghost', the sheer fact that they had done their best to help him had left them pale and sick to their stomachs. Afterwards Fugaku wasn't spotted for some months before a pair of Jiraiya's toads managed to spot him sneaking across the border into Fang Country from Wind Country, having apparently decided to cease hiding in the desert and change locations. This led to a large chase into Bear Country and then across almost the entire breadth of Earth Country, which ended in another battle at the border of Waterfall and Grass Country with Danzo's Root shinobi where Fugaku was once again able to escape.

As this was all going on things were anything but well in Konoha, as thanks to Fugaku the honor and reputation of the Uchiha name was completely tarnished. It was as the Uchiha Elders had predicted as up till then the entire village had truly began to trust and open up to their clan since Madara's betrayal, but after it was revealed what Fugaku had done most clansmen could not even walk outside in the streets. The Uchiha Police Force had been shut down and all of its members had to be questioned and interrogated by Ibiki and Inoichi, all of whom had every aspect of their minds and memories thoroughly examined. From their things began to deteriorate as the Uchiha Clan became outcasts that were openly shunned by all, and what made it worse was the sheer fact that none of its members could even blame the villagers. Not even the most prideful of the clan could do anything other than bite their tongues in silence, finding nothing that they could possibly say to the villagers for what their own Clan Head had done to them all. After six months of this the village was once again shell shocked by something the Uchiha had done, only this time what the clan itself did left the village speechless and in awe. It was around 5:30 am in the morning on the anniversary of Naruto's torture and rape, now six years later on what is the Hanyou's 11th birthday the entire village went into high alert as a massive fire on top of the Hokage Monument broke out. All along the massive stone heads the fire could easily be seen from any point in the village, after first responders arrived to fight the fire they were shocked by what they discovered. The cause of the fire wasn't part of some malevolent plot but was instead countless bodies, 175 men and women between the age of 15 and 80 including the Uchiha Elders.

It was a mass suicide which a third of the Uchiha Clan had committed in order to attempt to restore the honor of their clan, by choosing ritual suicide with the very flames they were famous for wielding. Everyone was stunned to discover this as well as a scroll sitting on a stone pedestal on top of the Fourth Hokage's Head, detailing no only the names of those who had volunteered but why they had done it. That it was a decision that the entire clan had chosen in order to atone for what their former leader had done, and so were severely weakening their clan and putting themselves at the mercy of the village. The surprises didn't stop there however when later that day Mikoto Uchiha handed over the Uchiha Clan Scroll to Hiruzen, a scroll containing all of their knowledge including the secrets of their Sharingan. After leaving a stunned Hiruzen in his office, Mikoto walked into the Inuzuka Compound to present a similar scroll to Tsume who was now the Inuzuka Matriarch. This lead to the two estranged life long friends embracing as Tsume informed Mikoto how she didn't blame her for what happened, and how she still considered Mikoto her sister. This shocked Mikoto as she was all but confident she'd never be able to mend her relationship with Tsume, she was further floored when all of the Inuzuka gathered there in the clan courtyard named her an Honorary Inuzuka. Signifying her as part of the pack and that despite what had happened the Inuzuka would stand by Mikoto and the Uchiha clan, not even in Mikoto's wildest dreams had she thought things would go like this.

After knews of the Inuzuka's declaration of the Uchiha as their friends spread throughout the village, along with what Mikoto had handed over to both the Hokage and the Inuzuka, things miraculously calmed down in the village. With the spectacle that the Uchiha had made during their mass suicide to top off all of the great lengths they had gone through, most if not all within the village began to see their clan more as the victim in all of this. The sheer fact that one of if not _the most_ prideful clan in the world was going to such lengths to show they were nothing like their disgraced former Clan Head, had struck a massive cord with the village. Leading to many villagers apologizing to the Uchiha for how they had treated them over the past several months, it was not easy for many after everything had come to light and for others they would understandably be unable to move on from what Fugaku had done. But slowly it looked as if the massive rift that Fugaku had created between his clan and the village was being mended, as once burned bridges were being rebuilt.

Somewhere in Northern River Country, near a familiar hideout

Fugaku groaned as he rested up against a tree having cleared the area of snow and now enjoying a very rare moment of comfort and relaxation, he had seldom an opportunity to rest for more than a few hours nowadays. After he had received medical attention at that outpost he had quickly climbed back onto his summon Jacken, who was still under the effects of his genjutsu, and fled before anyone could ask him anymore questions. Afterward it had been one massive shit storm for him as he quickly discovered that not only was Konoha moving heaven and earth to find him, but surprisingly enough they had the aid and cooperation of damn near every single nation and village! Personally Fugaku was simply grateful that it had only been a platoon of Root ANBU that he had faced after being cornered at the Waterfall/Grass Country borders, and not anyone more substantial like Jiraiya or kami forbid Tsume. It was well known that Tsume was only weaker than her husband in terms of ninjutsu because she had only mastered 4 of the 5 elements, and quite possibly the LAST thing Fugaku wanted was to face down a vengeful wife looking for her pound of flesh. Especially given his current situation which was dire to say the least given his only recently recovered wounds, looking down he inspected his artificial arm. He still couldn't believe his luck at the turn of events regarding it, he had decided to hide out in Wind Country for a spell so that way he could let some of the heat die out when he had stumbled onto a hidden base of sorts. After looking around and inspecting some of the notes that were there, Fugaku had discovered that he was in one of the personal workshops of the infamous Missing Nin Sasori of the Red Sands. Who to this day had not only completely evaded capture for over 20 years but was also the most gifted Puppet Master alive, thinking quickly Fugaku had decided that while he was there that he would make use of Sasori's workshop. Suna had always been known for being able to easily replace entire lost limbs with puppet based ones that ran on chakra, they were also the only ones who even knew how to safely do this.

After activating his sharingan Fugaku got to work reading through everything he could get his hands…..er….. _hand_ on, using his dojutsu to completely memorize everything he read, within a week he was able to begin creating a new arm to replace the one he had lost. After figuring out _how_ to attach the prosthetic arm Fugaku began working on its design, knowing full well that by now everyone knew he was missing an arm he wouldn't need to worry about hiding that fact. So instead Fugaku went for a design that was meant purely for functionality and combat, the prosthetic arm came with two retractable 2.5 foot long double edged blades. Which were housed in the top of the forearm and extended forward, but could retract back into the arm when not in use. With both blades set side by side of one another, it actually reminded Fugaku of a series of alien movies that was popular before the Kyuubi had attacked. It also came with a unique looking launcher that shot poison gas pellets out of the underside of the forearm, then only other thing added to the arm was along the top of the arm just above the duel blades. It was a reinforced armor plating with seals inscribed over it that could not only act as a means of blocking incoming weapon attacks, but if Fugaku channeled chakra through the seals then they would generate a round chakra shield 3 feet in diameter. All in all Fugaku was very pleased with the results despite the fact that he had need of a prosthetic to begin with, after training with it to grow accustomed with it he could now understand why so many Suna puppeteers that he had fought would often be so proud of their artificial limbs. Having faced plenty of them in the last shinobi war he had quickly grown to respect them and their craft, as they had given him nothing but sweet hell throughout the entirety of the war.

Shaking his head from his musings he stood back up having rested enough, looking up to the sun in order to gauge the time of day Fugaku figured he had a solid 5 hours of daylight left before I would need to break for camp. He should be near the Southern border of River Country by then and from there he can catch a boat to Tea Country, and as long as he stays off the radar then he'll be able to book passage with the next ship leaving Degarashi Port for either Demon or Marsh Country. As Fugaku took a step forward he froze mid step as his senses went haywire, decades of battle tested instincts all began screaming at him to run. Quickly looking around the seasoned Uchiha felt the most powerful sense of dread coming over him unlike anything he'd experienced in his life, as the seconds quickly ticked by Fugaku began to search more and more frantically for whatever it was that was making him react this way. Thinking quickly he formed the Ram seal and pulsed his chakra only to discover that whatever this was was no Genjutsu, as his mind raced Fugaku came to the only conclusion that he needed to flee as all of his fight or flight reflexes were on red alert. As Fugaku prepared to make a break for it the temperature suddenly plummeted around him, the fresh snow that laid on the ground at his feet quickly freezing over into a pure white blanket of ice. Causing Fugaku to hop into the air lest his feet become frozen to the ground, upon landing he whipped his head around in search of the source of the phenomenon only to freeze in fear.

As there standing in the unnaturally pitch black shade of some trees was a figure staring back at him, the only distinguishable characteristics being wild untamed hair, large animalistic ears, horns, and a pair of glowing blood-red slitted eyes. As the figure stepped out of the shadows Fugaku felt true and abject horror for the first time in his life, as he came face to face with someone that he honestly never expected to ever see again. As there in broad daylight stood Naruto Uzumaki staring back at him with the largest and most sinister smile Fugaku had ever seen.

"Hello Fugaku…." Naruto said as his smile somehow grew larger revealing a mouth full of razor sharp fangs.

 **Aaaaaannnnnnnnddddd Done! EVILE CLIFFHANGER NO JUTSU!**

 **Hey guys I hope you all enjoyed this chapter because I know that despite how long it took I had a blast writing it, like I said at the beginning of the chapter I will make sure that you all get to read the next chapter by the end of November. And like always feel free to leave a review!**


	11. Chapter 11 Update

Chapter 11 Update

Hey guys I'm sorry to say but I'm not going to be able to upload chapter 11 on time like I had promised, I know I promised a lot of you that it would be up around this time but shit happened that sucked up all of my time. I work Armed Security here in San Antonio, and last month when Hurricane Michael hit my company had to scramble and send out the SERT team. The SERT team is called out whenever there's a natural disaster(like a hurricane) and they go out there and secure whatever government spot they are told to, they stay out there for as long as they're needed, working 12 hour shifts making the same rate as OT pay per hour. Thing is they left the week AFTER the hurricane hit back in October, AND THEY ARE STILL OUT THERE. I spent 5 weeks not including last week, working 6 days a week because the rest of us left behind have to cover all the extra open shifts. So if I wasn't doing 52 hours a week at work I was trying to keep up with my college classes, which thankfully I was smart enough to make sure I did them all online. Soooooo Yeahhhhh. Things of only just now calmed down enough for me to actually do this thing known as relaxing, and FINALLY give the story some much needed attention. BUT! I still don't like that I'm having to break my promise to you all so I've decided to make it up to you!

For one I'm going to go ahead and make this chapter extra long, works for me as it gives me an opportunity to do certain things with the story that I think that you all will like. I mean hey you guys have seen what Naruto's story has done to change the Shinobi World _indirectly….._ but what I ask you do you think it will look like when Naruto DIRECTLY interferes with things in the world?

SECOND! I'm also going to post something to kind of….go along with the story. It's going to have it's own….separate story slot. I'm naming it: Akuma Sannin - Character Bios. This will contain notes on each character that I'm putting into the story, their stats, specialties, Elemental Affinities, Special Weapons that they might use, Bloodlines…..EVERYTHING that I can think of will be on there for each of them. Each character will get their own named chapter page, it will also show who they hook with and marry. I will try to make sure that there are no MAJOR SPOILERS in this as I don't want to give away too much. I'll make sure to have Chapter 11 done by the middle of December, before the end of the year.


	12. Chapter 11

**Akuma Sannin**

 **And here it is! We finally get to see the first arc of the story come full circle, I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to write this chapter because this will also kick off the NEXT arc of the story. Also from now on Kiba will be paired with Isaribi, Sasuke will stay paired with Sakura and Ino. Oh! And FYI this chapter will start 2 weeks into the 7.5 month time skip that happened in the previous chapter, this way yall aren't lost.**

 **Seven months till present day**

Naruto was exhausted as he rested against a large pillar, after the House of Horrors that Ryuk had shown him he had hauled ass to the coordinates that Kurama had given him. Normally he wouldn't have minded if Kurama had remembered that not only is she rather paranoid, but that she had also rigged the entire den he was currently in with booby traps! After 36 hours of spamming Jashin only knows how many Shadow Clones he was finally done and could at last rest, looking over to the far side of the room he was in Naruto could see what appeared to be a pedestal with a very ornate and beautiful sword hilt on it. The hilt was elegant and curved forward ever so slightly, having studied Kenjutsu scrolls as well as under Hitome Naruto could easily appreciate the level of craftsmanship that went into its making. **(Star Wars - Count Dooku's lightsaber)**

"Come on Naruto!" said Kurama excitedly. Having spent the last two weeks waiting for this moment to say she was impatient was an understatement.

"*sigh* Hai, hai alright I'm getting up." Naruto groaned as he got back up to his feet. "So just what the hell is this thing anyways? It's not even a complete weapon." he said only to get hit upside the head by one of Kurama's tails.

"Baka! This IS a weapon, it's one of only two swords that were ever made this way." huffed Kurama as she jumped from Naruto's shoulder onto the pedestal, looking back she spoke. "Naruto, this is the Hinokami no Ken. The Sword of the Fire God, this was made by Kagutsuchi himself." she said shocking the Hanyou.

"N-Nani?! That means its on par with the Raijin no Ken right?!"

"Hai, it was given to me as a gift a long time ago and I've kept it since then. The Senju Clan always held the Raijin no Ken in their possession and by extension Konoha until recently, as you remember from the last meeting a traitor from Konoha defected to Rain with it."

"Hai I remember…..Aoi Rokusho right?" Naruto asked having never really been good with names.

"Yep, now are you going to take the sword or what?" responded Kurama.

"Yep." And without another word Naruto picked up the sword hilt to inspect it, marveling at its craftsmanship. As he did this he noticed that the weapon had almost no weight whatsoever, which was insane because a sword hilt of such design should weigh at least 5 pounds!

"Before you ask Naruto, no I don't know why it's so light and yes the Raijin no Ken is the same way." said Kurama breaking Naruto out of his reverie. "Now channel some chakra into it….and make sure not to drop it." she cautioned.

Doing as he was told Naruto let out a startled yelp as a deep crimson blade of pure Katon chakra shot out of the hilt of the handle, making sure to keep a firm grip on the handle Naruto took time to study it. The blade was a beautiful deep ruby red that glowed proudly causing the crimson light it gave off to reflect off the walls and fill the entire room, as he held the sword he noticed a soft hum that it was giving off. Giving the sword an experimental swing the humming sound responded, quickly growing louder before waning back to its original state. The blade itself was a straight, smooth, round beam that extended from the hilt of the handle to a surprising length of 33 inches, and was a solid 2 inches in diameter, making the blade as long as his 3 ancestral katanas. Looking over to his left he saw a large stalagmite jutting up from the ground, walking over to it Naruto lazily swung the Hinokami no Ken at it and was shocked by what happened. Expecting the blade to simply go a handful of inches into the large stalagmite the blade instead cut through it completely like it was never even there, warily looking at the ruby blade Naruto decided it was best to never fuck around with the weapon and use it only in dire circumstances. As he thought this he quickly shut off the flow of chakra running into the sword, being further surprised by the fact that the weapon only needed about the same amount of chakra required to walk on water.

Smiling he quickly hooked the Hinokami no Ken onto his belt on the right hip, walking over he quickly scooped up Kurama from the pedestal and started placing feather light kisses all over her face. The act shocking Kurama at first she then began to struggle in an attempt to get out of Naruto's grasp when he began tickling her ribs, causing her to start laughing.

"Ahahahah!...No...stop! Hehehehehehe...no more hahaha!" Kurama gasped out in between fits of laughter, in an act of desperation Kurama simply started swatting Naruto in the face with her paws repeatedly till he dropped her. Seeing her chance she put a little distance between them before smoothing out her fur, eyeing Naruto who had the biggest Cheshire Grin she had ever seen on his face.

"I see you like the gift…" she said devotely thankful that her rud fur was covering up the blush she knew she was sporting.

"Thanks Kyu-chan." Naruto said warmly unknowingly causing Kurama's blush to deepen. "I'll treasure it always."

"Well you better, that's not the kind of thing that can be replaced." Kurama responded before turning around and heading out the direction they came.

"No it isn't." Naruto said in agreement taking the Hinokami no Ken off of his belt to inspect it one last time before placing it back and catching up with Kurama.

"So where to now?" Kurama asked.

"Ame." answered Naruto causing Kurama to tense up as she walked.

"You're sure you can get through to him? Even after everything that I told you about the Rinnegan and what that... _thing_ is?"

"I'm not sure at all." Naruto answered simply, gaining an incredulous look from the demoness. "We both know that he's probably too far gone if he's willing to use the corpse of the Juubi, but he's my family and he knows it. That may just be all I need to begin working on him and who knows, maybe I'll _eventually_ be able to talk him out of whatever insane plans he has got going." Naruto explained. "And if not then at the very least I can play for time and become strong enough to stop him, and if I can stay inside the loop on Akatsuki movements while doing so then all the better." he finished grimly.

"And what of Orochimaru? All he would need to do is fuse and meld his soul with the statue, and then we'd ALL be fucked."

"True, but if he thought he could actually do that to begin with then he'd have done so by now." countered Naruto. "Besides that's a problem that's going to be on the backburner for quite some time, and if anything new pops up Ryuk will let us know immediately."

"I still don't like this." huffed Kurama. "Just be careful when you ask about his plans Naruto, you may have placed that Teleportation Seal here in my den but against someone with the Rinnegan…..we might not even have a chance to use it to escape if things go south."

" I know Kyu-chan, I know." Naruto said reasuredly. "But like I said on the way here if he has any bad designs in store for us then he wouldn't have let us go off by ourselves, which means that either he has no intentions of double crossing us-"

"Or he simply plans to do so at a much later date when everything else has been dealt with." cut in Kurama who was still not happy.

"Even _that_ works in our favor baka, because in all scenarios we have _time_ on our side, so please try not to worry so much okay? Besides I'm going to be grilling you about everything that you remember the Rinnegan is capable of on the way there, which reminds me we still need to go through all of those notes we copied from Orochimaru-teme's lab." Naruto said quickly trying to change the subject.

"Nice try baka but I'm going to ride your ass on this then entire way to Ame." Kurama growled, an almost smug look gracing her face as she heard Naruto groan.

 **Five months till present day**

Naruto stepped off of the boat and onto the dock, pulling the hood of his cloak down more he was devotely thankful that he brought it with him. Looking around he let out a sigh of relief as he had finally made it to Ame, having chosen to take one of the ferries across the massive lake that surrounded Ame he was now standing on the main docks. And everywhere he looked he saw people busling and moving about in a city that was highly industrial, that was the second thing he had noticed before his ferry had even arrived. The first had been the nonstop torrential downpour of rain that he had been hammered with for the 2 days just _walking_ to Ame, it was no wonder why every rogue shinobi from Ame that he'd met all wore the same type of clothing with constant rain like this. He had heard the stories from Kakuzu and Hitome of course, how the never ending rain was as much an elemental phenomenon as the endless mists of Kirigakure. He also heard how many of the villages shinobi could use the rain to their advantage with their Ninjutsu during combat, from using it to sense everything around them to turning the endless rain into senbon that rain down on their enemies. Now _those_ stories had peaked his interest and even Kurama's as she had honestly never thought of doing something like that before, a fact that in Naruto's mind simply gave the village more props for its originality.

Looking towards what he assumed was the Amekage tower Naruto quickly began making his way there, easily blending in with the crowd like he had been taught he was soon just another face amongst the crowd. As he walked he thought of the two month journey that he had needed to take just to arrive here, it had taken a month at sea just to cross the ocean safely due to the Kiri Civil War affecting shipping routes. Chartering a ship from the northern port of Demon Country to go through the Kasumi Straight, and eventually making port in the Land of Hot Springs. Playing it safe Naruto and Kurama had traveled around Fire Country by going through Hotsprings, Rice, Iron Country, Waterfall, and finally Grass Country just to make it to Rain. In all that time Naruto and Kurama had ample time to pour over all of the notes that they had either copied or stolen from Orochimaru's lab, they had quickly learned the hard way to never read the notes on a full stomach. Everything that they had uncovered within that lab was vile and appalling in one form or another, but despite this both the Hanyou and the Demoness would readily admit that they had had the privilege of being inside the mind of a true genius. As sickening as it was for both of them to admit, they couldn't help but admire the man for his intellect as every single paper they went over was truly groundbreaking. Naruto had even had several Shadow Clones scour through all of the records and scrolls of his clan via the access his clan scroll gave him to the Great Library, but by the end of the long boat trip Naruto had concluded that Orochimaru had taken science to new heights in ways not even his clan had ever thought of. (Something he was thankful for)They had also learned many secrets that they knew would be invaluable in the future, like how the Snake Sannin had even created multiple Kinjutsu along with how to recreate them. One of which was a more advanced form of the Substitution Jutsu known as Body Replacement Jutsu, which allows the user to completely heal himself of any injury by…..basically vomiting out their own body like a snake shedding its skin.

That one in particular had Kurama's fur standing up on end for several minutes along with Naruto's, after getting over their initial revulsion they couldn't help marveling at the jutsu and its implications for battle. It was clear that Orochimaru's old teammate Tsunade must have been the inspiration for this jutsu, as it provided him with what was essentially the perfect method for healing himself. Even Orochimaru understood and respected the art of healing, probably from spending so much time with a woman who was basically unkillable. After pouring over the notes regarding the Body Replacement Jutsu Naruto was ecstatic to discover that it was a jutsu that he could learn, granted it was remarkably complex and would take him years to master but luckily time was something he had in spades. Another jutsu that they found was a Doton variant of the Shadow Clone Jutsu, where by creating a shadow clone with Doton chakra and some mud the clone was capable of reforming after being struck in a matter of seconds. The clone would then be able to continue fighting in battle, and simply continue to reform as many times as necessary till it ran out of chakra and dispersed. Naruto had been half tempted to give the Snake Sannin a huge hug the next time he met him for that jutsu alone. The next jutsu that they came across however had both of them freeze in fear as they read up on the jutsu and what it did, to the point where Naruto immediately summoned Ryuk so that he could see it for himself. It was a jutsu that would supposedly grant Orochimaru a form of immortality called Living Corpse Reincarnation, which allows the user to transfer their mind and soul into another person's body. A jutsu which can be used to completely escape death altogether by basically hopping from one host to another, and provided the user has a host powerful enough can live out entire lifetimes without ever truly aging or dying. To their relief Ryuk had simply told them that while it was close to what Orochimaru wanted and would basically fill his need to live forever, it was not _true immortality_ which is something that only comes when ascending to godhood no matter the method used. Hearing this had caused Naruto and Kurama to release the breath they had been holding, especially as Ryuk pointed out from the notes that the jutsu wasn't even finished and was most likely years away from being completed.

With that in mind Naruto decided that he wouldn't relax while he made the journey to Ame, and so began making hundreds of Shadow Clones and sending them out to train and perfect his skills. By the time the ship he was on had mad port in Hotsprings Country Naruto had already mastered the Doton variant to the Shadow Clone Jutsu, along with managing to get most of the A Rank jutsus he knew down to a single hand sign. He had also began pouring over his clan's Fuinjutsu with Kurama on the ship, insisting that she learn everything she could about the art that way it no one could ever use it against her again. This reasoning had, much to his embarrassment, earned him getting glomped by the now Rottweiler sized fox demon who then proceeded to lick him all over his face. Something that Naruto _knew_ was Kurama's way of kissing him and showing affection given the form she was currently stuck in, after fighting down a massive blush both had gotten to work studying the various seals and notes. They learned everything they possibly could, starting with the teleportation seal that Naruto had copied and placed onto one of the walls of Kurama's den back in Demon Country. After learning the ins and outs of the the jutsu both wound up face faulting when they discovered that their clan had created it solely for the purpose of getting from one floor of a house to the next, and had never even bothered to come up with a teleportation jutsu for combat. No, THAT honor went to Tobirama Senju who created the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, still the pair quickly learned many things as they poured over the Uzumaki Scrolls. Such as how Naruto's clan had a love for Fuinjutsu that led to them working it into almost every single facet of their lives, something that corroborated a few of the stories that Kakuzu had told him about the Uzumaki.

As they traveled through the lands surrounding Fire Country Naruto continued to make clones by the hundreds though never exceeding 500 at any given time, sending them out in large even groups spread out over miles. He had them practice and learn new Ninjutsu, various Kenjutsu techniques, chakra control exercises, anything that he could think of while at night he and Kurama would delve into his clan Fuinjutsu scrolls. After making it back into Iron Country Naruto was sorely tempted to visit Pai Mei and Chaha Velar, but ultimately decided against it as he needed to make it to Ame. After some debate he did however send a Shadow Clone out to create a teleportation seal in a cave a few days away from the Temple of the Sky.

The single greatest event that came on the trip to Ame however was when one of his Shadow Clones dispelled, causing him to freeze in his tracks as he sifted through the memories he got. Memories of a Konoha ANBU wearing a Mizuchi styled mask **(look it up from the game Nioh)** , who had simply tossed the group of clones a scroll and shunshinned away in a vortex of electrified water. After the clone had read the contents of the scroll it then immediately dispelled as the other clones got back to work, what the scroll had said had left Naruto in a momentary state of shock. A state of shock that quickly came to an end as the Hanyou began to laugh, it started off as a slow chuckle before graduating into full blown maniacal laughter. Looking over to see a _really_ weirded out Kurama the young Hanyou gave the demoness the good news, as it would turn out that just a few months ago Fugaku was discovered to be 'The Ghost'. And that not only was the man missing an arm, down one usable eye and on the run…...but that damn near the entire continent was looking for him! Going into further detail Naruto explained the what had happened between one of his Shadow Clones and a Konoha ANBU, and how the shinobi had simply tossed over a scroll explaining the situation regarding Fugaku in its entirety. Both shared a laugh as near the end the ANBU had been kind enough to leave a small postscript, stating how easy it was to find the Hanyou seeing how he was destroying hundreds of acres of forest every day with Shadow Clones.

Shaking his head Naruto let out a small chuckle at the memory as he climbed the steps to the Amekage Tower, stomping his feet as he walked in through the front entrance Naruto calmly pulled his hood down allowing his large fox ears to flop out. Looking around he say that the main floor was very well kept and looked like something you would find at a high end corporate building, walking up towards the main concierge desk he was stopped as he sensed a presence behind him. Turning around Naruto came face to face with Konan in her standard Akatsuki attire, who had one of the prettiest smiles he had ever seen.

"Hello Naruto-kun, it's been a while." Konan said gently as a genuine smile graced her features, somehow lighting up the entire room in Naruto's point of view.

"Konan-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed happily as he quickly hugged her before breaking away. "How've you been?" he asked curiously.

"I've been good, but perhaps we should continue this elsewhere." Konan answered gesturing to everyone else in the main lobby, who had all ground to a halt at seeing someone with the audacity to actually _hug_ the Angel of Ame. Noticing that she was watching them they all quickly looked away and went back to what they were doing, taking the hint Naruto quickly nodded and followed Konan as she led him up a flight of stairs conversing as they walked.

"So i take it you've heard the news regarding Fugaku?" Naruto asked gaining an affirmative nod from Konan.

"Yes, our representative was quite surprised to find this out at the summit that was held at the request of the Hokage and the Fire Daimyo."

"Dibs."

"What?" Konan asked with a touch of incredulity making itself known in her voice.

"Dibs." Naruto answered simply. "As far as I'm concerned that motherfucker is mine and I don't intend to share him with anyone else."

"Right…..very well then I'll just let you tell that to all of the other bounty hunters that are looking for him, you may have to get in line though if you want your pound of flesh."

"I don't care how many people are looking for him, he's _mine_." Naruto responded growling on instinct near the end. As the two lapsed into silence they continued to walk for several more minutes before coming to a second lobby which had a single elevator, getting inside Naruto noted there was only two buttons to push that indicated 'Up' or 'Down'.

As Konan pushed the 'Up' button she spoke once more. "So are you nervous about meeting him?" she asked gaining a look from Naruto.

"Kinda…." he answered honestly before sighing. "He's probably the only family I have left that I'm even related to by blood, but I don't know what will come of it when we meet given how things are."

"What do you mean by that Naruto?" asked Konan who had some idea as to what the little Hanyou was getting at.

"Come on Konan-sensei don't play dumb, you're all criminals and I'm one of your targets." responded Naruto sadly. "We both know that from the very beginning the only _real_ reason I'm even alive is because I'm a Hanyou _and_ a Jinchuriki, I may not be the smartest around but it doesn't take a genius to figure that much out."

"You're right Naruto-kun, I'm sorry." responded Konan as she felt the weight of what they were truly doing with Naruto pile on her, just how many children would they wind up killing for their plans?

" Would you mind staying for when I talk to Pein? I have some things to tell you both and I'd rather not have to repeat it." asked Naruto.

"As you wish." replied Konan as the elevator came to a stop and the door opened to a large room, the room itself having large pillars to hold up the ceiling. The room itself was open to the elements, as the entire wall at the end of the room was gone and all that could be seen was a large balcony with a rail. Standing there by the rail watching the rain was a tall spiky haired man whom Naruto could tell was the leader just from the power coming off of him. Turning around the man walked towards them, as the light hit him Naruto saw that the man possessed orange hair and the Rinnegan eyes.

"Hello Naruto-kun, it's a pleasure to finally meet you face to face." Pein said as he held out his hand.

Frowning Naruto took the offered hand and shook, looking up into Pein's eyes. "I can't say the same." he responded getting a raised eyebrow from both Akatsuki members.

"Oh? And why is that?" Pein asked.

"Because you're not really here." replied Naruto. "I didn't travel for two months from a different continent just to talk to glorified puppet." He continued while lightly tapping his horns. "Ever since I got these things I've been able to sense chakra sources, and I can tell that the only chakra in that body is what's being transferred into it…...which is probably why you have all of those piercings." he said gaining mildly surprised looks from the normally stoic Akatsuki leaders.

"Well I must say that is certainly impressive of you Naruto-kun, no one has ever even come close to guessing that." said Konan at length as she lightly scratched behind Naruto's ears, gaining a small purr in response.

"Th-Thanks." Naruto responded before shaking his head to refocus, he could bug Konan for ear scratches later. "Look we have a lot to talk about Nagato, so can you please just take me to where you really are?" he asked a slight pleading making its way into his voice.

"Very well." Pein said at length, without another word he turned and started walking towards the wall behind what appeared to be a stone throne. As Pein neared the wall it automatically opened up before him revealing a hidden passage, looking behind he made a 'follow me' motion before disappearing into the dark passageway.

Quickly catching up Naruto soon fell in step behind Pein as they traveled in silence, after a few minutes they entered another large room filled with medical equipment, computers, and several large metal tubes. Naruto watched as Pein headed towards one of the metal tubes by the wall, pressing a button on the side it opened up and he climbed in allowing it to shut close around him.

As this happened Naruto heard an unfamiliar voice from the other side of the room call out to him. " Hello Naruto." Looking for the source of the voice Naruto saw what looked like in emaciated zombie of a man, in some form of a wooden mechanical wheelchair. The man was extremely pale and very gaunt, with noticeable bags under his eyes, dark red hair, and possessed the Rinnegan. Naruto also noticed that this man had large rods sticking out of his back, which were similar to the piercings all over Pein's face.

After taking some time to inspect the…... _man_ before him Naruto responded. "What….. _happened_ to you?" he asked not being able to stop himself.

"Life, or more specifically _Konoha_." Nagato answered at some length, an undertone of anger making itself known when mentioning the village of Naruto's birth. "You wanted to talk face-to-face, so let's talk one clansman to another."

"Sure thing but first I've got something to show you, something I think you'll appreciate." Doing a few hand signs Naruto quickly summoned the Clan scroll that he kept stored in the seal on his stomach, walking over to a nearby table he opened it up and quickly unsealed a smaller but still large scroll. Beckoning nagato over he opened up the scroll to reveal that it depicted their family tree.

" What were your parents names?" Naruto asked gently as he saw raw genuine emotion in Nagato's eyes.

"K...Kenshin…..and Kaoru Uzumaki." Nagato answered as he stared almost reverently at the scroll before him.

Quickly going through the names on the scroll Naruto found the two names within minutes, as they were some of the more recent entries near the front. Locating them Naruto and Nagato both noticed something unique, tracing the lineage of Nagato's parents they saw that they both shared a great grandfather named Toga Uzumaki. The man had two sons named Sesshomaru and Inuyasha, Sesshomaru who would go onto marry a woman named Rin and father Naruto's mother Kushina. While Inuyasha would marry two women named Kagome and Kikyo, but would only sire Nagato's mother Kaoru with Kagome due to Kikyo being incapable of having children. After almost 2 hours of reading and rereading the family tree as well as some other documents that Naruto had unsealed, Nagato only had one thing repeating throughout his mind.

" _I have a little cousin….."_ he thought as he looked over to Naruto, without really thinking and going on pure impulse Nagato raised his hand towards Naruto. "Bansho Tennen" he said causing Naruto to be jerked through the air and into his grasp, surprised at what was happening he was floored however when instead of possibly being impaled he was wrapped up in a surprisingly powerful hug.

"Itoko( _cousin_ )." Nagato murmured with fresh tears in his eyes as he let the surprised Hanyou go, looking over he noticed Konan had an uncharacteristically gobsmacked look on her face. "That's a good way to catch flies." he commented causing her to quickly shut her mouth.

"I can't remember the last time you actually made a joke Nagato-kun." Konan replied softly as she watched a spark of life return to her friend, a sight that almost made her cry.

"Nagato…...we need to talk." Naruto said gaining everyone's attention. "You can't go through with whatever it is you're planning, it needs to stop." he said jumping right into it.

The small smile on Nagato's face slowly faded as he listened to what his younger cousin had to say. "I don't expect you to understand yet Naruto-kun, but this is something that must be done if we're to bring peace to the world."

"Peace? How do you plan to do that?" Naruto asked incredulously, something that didn't go unnoticed by Nagato and Konan. After a brief pause where both Akatsuki shared a look, as if by some unspoken conversation Nagato finally answered.

"Our ultimate goal is to utilize the combined power of the tailed beasts to form a massive weapon, and then we will give it to the people of the world." Nagato answered slowly as he watched his little cousin carefully, seeing that Naruto wasn't going to say anything he continued. "People are the cause of all evil in this world, but they are also just as capable of unimaginably beautiful and compassionate acts. However that can only happen when people understand one another, and the single greatest way is through a shared pain."

"A shared pain?" Naruto asked confused.

"Yes, when people can properly empathize with others and understand one another's pain it brings them together. When we finally give the weapon we have created to the world, it will only be a matter of time before somebody uses it. The damage will be catastrophic and whoever survives will band together, and in time will rise up to take the weapon away and use it themselves." Nagato stated all the while keeping a close eye on Naruto. " And in doing so the cycle will continue over, and over again. Until finally everyone knows the same pain as everyone else, and then finally the world will be able to heal and prosper as those who are left rebuild."

Despite how ludicrous it had sounded Naruto tried his absolute best to keep an open mind as he listened to his cousin, he thought about what Nagato had said and could only come to one conclusion. "It's not going to work Nagato."

A look of amusement flashed across Nagato's face. "Oh yes it will Naruto-kun, we've been planning this for a long time and have a foolproof method."

"You mean by using the Gedo Mazo Statue…...right?" asked Naruto causing both Nagato and Konan to freeze. As this happened all traces of happiness or humor left their faces, replaced by shock, confusion, and eventually calming down as they composed themselves.

" _Be careful Naruto-kun….."_ Kurama said from within the seal, she was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed. She had her hands in the sign for concentration as she kept her youki built up, so that way she could use the teleportation seal if they needed to escape.

"How…...How do you-" Konan tried to ask before Naruto interrupted her.

"Kurama." Naruto answered softly. "After that first meeting that I had with you and the others Kurama noticed the statue, as well as Nagato's Rinnegan." Noticing that both Akatsuki members had tensed up, Naruto decided to get control of the situation before things got out of hand. "Before either of you do something that we'll all regret….just listen to what I have to say."

Sharing a brief look with one another as if silently asking one another something, they eventually looked back to Naruto and nodded, giving a grateful smile he continued. "After I started traveling on my own Kurama told me what that thing was along with a lot of things about the Rinnegan, at this point there isn't anything about it that I don't know." he said to the shock of both Akatsuki.

"So that's how you knew…." Nagato spoke as he continued to piece things together.

"About your Six Paths Technique?...Yes….I'm a sensor so after talking to Kurama and doing some research I eventually had a good idea as to what to look for." Naruto confirmed. "Don't worry your secret's safe with me." he promised.

"Thank you Naruto." Nagato answered with a sigh, before something clicked in his mind. "Wait….you mentioned research….what research could you have possibly done on something as ancient as the Rinnegan? _Without_ finding nothing but rumors and old stories?"

"Our clan of course." Naruto answered confusing Nagato and Konan. "Our clan is as ancient as the Uchiha and the Senju, after all they are our cousins." he said much to their shock.

" _How?_ " asked Konan as Nagato was at a loss for words.

"The Sage of Six Paths was a man named Hagoromo Otsutsuki who had an older twin brother named Hamura. Hagoromo had two sons who would both respectively start the Senju and Uchiha Clans, while Hamura would have children of his own and sire the Uzumaki and Hyuuga Clans." Naruto said. "The thing is though that Hagoromo chose the younger son Asura to be his heir over his eldest Indra, this is what started the feud between the two clans that everyone knows so well. Meanwhile the Uzumaki and Hyuuga lived in relative peace, while only having to march to war whenever it was in defense of themselves or their allies."

"Sweet Kami." whispered Konan as she took in everything that was being said.

"But what does this have to do with your knowledge of the Gedo Mazo?" asked Nagato who was failing to see the connection.

"Because…..Hagoromo and Hamura are the ones who fought what that statue _used to be._ " Naruto answered. "Before the Tailed Beasts there was Juubi, or the Ten Tails. It was a primordial god of pure destruction and creation that couldn't be controlled, couldn't be destroyed, and couldn't be beaten. So the Sage sealed it within himself becoming the first Jinchuriki ever-"

"He became it's Jinchuriki?!" gasped Konan and Nagato simultaneously.

"Yep."

"Good…." Nagato said with a faint smile as his mind began to go over countless possibilities. "If I fix my body and grow strong enough I could.."

" **NOOOOO!"** Naruto roared actually startling both Akatsuki. "Stop while you're ahead Nagato, that beast can't be controlled! The Sage of Six Paths was a _god,_ he may have been mortal but he was still an actual GOD. And even _he_ couldn't control it!" Naruto yelled for the first time visibly angry.

"But then how did he handle it hmm?" Nagato asked. "How did he manage to see to it that the Juubi would never attack mankind again after he was dead? And you still haven't told me how you know all of this." he said narrowing his eyes at the end, despite the bombshell revelations that the young Hanyou had told him he was still keeping a sharp mind.

"He split it up into 9 different beings and created the Bijuu themselves, he then took the corpse of the Juubi and sealed it off in the moon where it would be unreachable and forgotten ." Naruto answered his eyes unwavering as he looked Nagato dead in the eyes. " _That's how_ ….and to answer your question I used the clan library." Before any questions could be asked Naruto walked back over to the table, rolling up the scroll which held the Uzumaki Family Tree he then handed it over to Nagato. "Here….keep it. This way you'll have something to remind you of where you really come from." he said gently to his clansmen.

"Th-Thank you….Naruto-kun…" Nagato responded as he held onto the scroll while blinking away a few tears that threatened to escape. Holding onto the scroll tightly Nagato watched as his little cousin unrolled the massive clan scroll some more, as this happened Nagato saw that there was infinitely more to the scroll then met the eye. From the sheer quality of it which made it seem to be worth more than all the gold in the Elemental Nations, to the absolutely gorgeous calligraphy that covered every single possible blank space in such a way that it looked more like a work of art. Inspecting it further Nagato watched as Naruto began tapping certain Kanji symbols, causing the runes on the scroll to come alive and move on their own. It reminded Nagato of a computer screen almost, as Naruto tapped on one part only to cause the calligraphy to change again and again like a computer bringing up one page of information after the other. Eventually Naruto found whatever it was he was looking for as he did a few brief hand signs that neither Nagato or Konan had ever seen before, and with a puff of smoke an extremely old scroll came into view.

"This is more than just some fancy clan scroll with a bunch of powerful jutsus inside, this scroll contains all of the knowledge of our clan. It was made to be completely indestructible, capable of lasting forever." Naruto explained.

Carefully opening it Naruto beckoned both Akatsuki members to come closer as he revealed more of the scroll, and on it was something that made both of them freeze in shock as it showed first a painted image of two men standing before a massive beast. The beast towered over mountains, and possessed ten tails, a single blood red eye which appeared to be a combination of the Rinnegan and the Sharingan, and a large roaring maw filled with massive razor sharp teeth.

"This is the Juubi, it was so powerful that not even The Sage of Six Paths and his brother were enough to stop it, they couldn't even kill it as it was a primordial god." Naruto explained, rolling the scroll further they saw the next image which depicted Hagoromo taking the Juubi into himself. "And here is where he becomes the first Jinchuriki." Unrolling some more of the scroll which only had faded out kanji glyphs, they came to another image which showed Hagoromo first splitting the Juubi into 9 pieces before sealing away the now dead body into the moon. The final image showed something that made even Nagato gaze in wonder, as it was an image of the nine Bijuu being born.

"So it's true….." murmured Nagato as he looked over the scroll, his eyes being able to confirm that this was no trick of a genjutsu and was indeed real. It was so surreal for him to see such a massive piece of his own lineage be confirmed, he truly was related to an actual _god._ _"And to think…..with these same eyes he brought this beast to heel, if he can do that then what could I do?"_ he wondered as his mind began to race a mile a minute with everything that Naruto had just shared and _proven_ to him, for probably the first time in Nagato's life he was beginning to believe in destiny. Afterall he alone was the only person in thousands of years to awaken the Rinnegan, this merely meant that he would be the only person capable of becoming the Jinchuriki of the Juubi.

"Nagato?" a voiced asked causing the man to snap out of his thoughts, looking around he saw that it was Naruto that had spoken. "You spaced out there for a few minutes."

"Hai, I'm sorry Naruto-kun. I was merely thinking of everything that you've shown me, it's a lot to take in even for me." he replied honestly. "But you should know that this will not dissuade me from my goals, it has merely confirmed what I already believe." Nagato said his eyes filled with more determination than at any other point in his life. "I _will_ go forward with my plans and I _will_ achieve my goals, this scroll here simply means that they are all the more possible."

"What?!" Naruto asked in disbelief. "You can't possibly-"

"Yes I _can_ Naruto-kun." Nagato interrupted firmly. "You're right….I am no god….not _yet_ at least. Afterall I'm confined to a wheelchair, and let's face it I don't like my chances of winning the beauty pageant this year." he said with a ghost of a smile on his lips near the end. "But the fact remains that if the Sage of Six Paths could control the beast enough to become it's Jinchuriki, then maybe….just _maybe_ I can too. Afterall I'm the only one to have ever unlocked the Rinnegan since the Sage himself, meaning I already have half of the requirements needed to pull it off. Just _imagine_ what I could do with all of that power, there would be nothing stopping me from changing the world itself. No more endless bloodshed, no more wars, no more of this broken Shinobi System, no more crying orphans starving in the rain…" he said practically crying near the end. "Just peace…"

"Nagato…" Konan murmured as she rested a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. Secretly however she did _not_ like where this conversation was going, the plan they had carefully laid meant that they would fade into obscurity once the weapon was complete. They are supposed to change the world, not rule it.

"Itoko…..I don't know what hell it is you've gone through but….this just is not the way." Naruto said at length, having been caught off guard by the sheer raw emotion being put on display by his cousin. "Take it from me I would love to see the world change like that for the better, but the past is the past. Nothing will ever change what's happened, nothing will ever replace what was taken from me….but I can't let you do this." he said looking Nagato in the eyes.

Hearing this Nagato instinctively stiffened as did Konan, at this point neither wanted to hear what they knew was coming next. "Naruto….please don't make me your enemy, I won't stop even for you."

"I'm sorry Nagato, but I can't let you do that. Nothing is worth whatever price you'll have to pay to become that powerful." Naruto said with a sigh. "I don't want to be your enemy itoko, but if you leave me no choice I _will_ stop you." he said with determination before his gaze softened. "Having said that…..I'd still like to have some kind of relationship with you. And who knows? Maybe I'll be able to talk some sense into you before we have to cross that bridge?"

Looking down Nagato could honestly say he was crushed by what he had heard, he didn't want to lose _another_ family member let alone his _only_ blood relative. Despite all of the things that he had done up till this point Nagato knew that if it came down to it, he would kill Naruto. And it would destroy him to do it as he would then _truly_ be more alone than he had ever been, nevertheless he would still go through with it. As he thought this he replayed what Naruto had said to him, as he did he saw just what Naruto was trying to do.

"Yes, I would like that greatly." Nagato said with an honest smile as he looked back up to his cousin. "And maybe one day I'll convince _you_ that I'm right, or perhaps we could…"

"Find a middle ground." Naruto finished with a smile, not being able to contain how happy he was at that moment. "In time I think we could do that, for now let's just get to know one another. I'd certainly like to know more about you and Konan."

"I'd like that as well." Nagato responded.

"As would I." Konan said with a soft smile, privately more than a little glad that things had developed as they had today.

Afterwards the three of them gathered the two scrolls that Naruto had unsealed and left to another part of the tower, having given both scrolls to Nagato for safekeeping Naruto had done something else for his cousin. He had given him not only the journal of the last Uzumaki Clan Head but several books and scrolls that detailed the history of their clan, which both Akatsuki had silently noted had been worn over from constant reading. Something that Naruto readily admitted to as he had read them all dozens of times either personally or having Shadow Clones do the reading for him while he slept, the three of them then spent the rest of the day talking to one another. Nagato and Konan told the young Hanyou about how their lives had been, how they had grown up there in Rain Country during the Second Shinobi War as homeless orphans. How they had lost everyone, about their life long friend named Yahiko who was the eldest of them and their leader, how the three of them eventually met their sensei Jiraiya. This definitely got Naruto's attention as he listened to them speak of an admittedly bizar and unbelievably perverted man, who was also one of the most powerful shinobi in the world. How the man had spent a few years training them into powerful ninjas before eventually being forced to leave. They told him of how they went ahead and tried their best to change Rain Country for the better which was incredibly war torn, how their goal was to bring peace to their home. With this Naruto learned of the true origins Akatsuki which was led by Yahiko, who's body Naruto had seen earlier being used like a puppet, Naruto also learned of what the Akatsuki back then was doing.

The Akatsuki under Yahiko had begun doing missions practically for free that most of Ame could not be bothered to do, from bringing relief and aid to people who needed it to clearing out bandit camps that littered the countryside. They also took to wiping out any foreign rogue shinobi that they came across usually _just_ as they were crossing the border into their country, on top of all of this they did anything else that they could think of to make people's lives better. They had several members who specialized in both Doton and Suiton Ninjutsu who would redirect parts of rivers to run through farming lands and near villages, so that fresh water was better accessible. They elevated entire villages so that way water from the never ending rain could flow _downhill_ from their villages, and be directed by stone aqueducts to large man made rivers and lakes. They eventually grew in numbers and began to make such a large difference in Rain Country, that they even gained the recognition of the Amekage Hanzo the Salamander himself.

From there however their story took a dramatic left turn as they told Naruto of the eventual betrayal and setup that they suffered at the hands of Hanzo and a man from Konoha named Danzo, how after all of their members had died fighting in the ambush that Konan had been captured. And Yahiko had agreed to sacrifice himself to Hanzo just so that he and Konan would be spared, only for Hanzo to once again betray them as he simply killed Yahiko the moment his guard was down and then attempted to do the same to them. Naruto listened as Nagato told how he snapped at that moment, and poured more chakra into his eyes than at any other time in his life. The result being the colossal Gedo Mazo Statue which he then directed to attack Hanzo and his forces, but in the ensuing fight Hanzo had retreated after his men had been killed and the statue had crushed Nagato's legs.

"Nagato…..I….." Naruto didn't know what to say, as he was at a loss for words.

" It's fine Naruto-kun, this was a long time ago." Nagato said kindly as he looked over to the clock on the wall noting the time. "Well I must say we've certainly been here longer than I thought, it's already one in the morning. How about we get some rest, there's some things I want to show you tomorrow. I also have a mission for you that I think you'll be interested in."

"Sounds great." Naruto replied with a yawn.

"Good, Konan can show you to your room for the night. Till then good night Naruto-kun." Nagato said before wheeling off to a different room.

After being taken to a bedroom that he could use for the night, Naruto quickly showered and got into bed. As he laid there staring up at the ceiling he quickly closed his eyes and let his mind drift, before long he was back in his mindscape with Kurama. Who was lying in the grass at the base of a large tree in her human form, approaching her he quickly snuggled up next to the demoness with his head lying on her lap.

"So what do you think?" Naruto asked as Kurama began to stroke his hair.

" I think you're stupid and reckless." she answered bluntly. "But I'm happy that things turned out the way that they did, it's almost exactly like you said."

"I can hardly believe it myself…." Naruto replied. "Still I know that we have to be careful, and that we're playing with fire."

"That's an understatement." Kurama snorted. "Naruto-kun, I don't want you taking any more chances like this ever again. Too many things could have gone wrong and…..I don't want anything to happen to you." she said at length.

Sitting up Naruto turned around to look the demoness in the eyes, seeing the worry there he hugged her. "I promise I won't do anything like that again, not till I know I'm ready anyways." he said before giving the demoness a light kiss on the cheek, something that caused the normally collected woman to blush. Not saying a word Naruto lied back down with his head resting on Kurama's lap, before long he had drifted to sleep. As he lay there Kurama couldn't help but lightly touch where Naruto had kissed her cheek, processing what had just happened. As it was the first time anyone had _ever_ been that forward with her, in the millenia that she had been alive that had never happened before. And it was nothing more than a simple affectionate kiss on the cheek!

" _Dammin Naruto-kun….why do you have to be so damn kind?!"_ she thought to herself as got lost in her own musings, all the while feeling something akin to a dull ache inside her chest.

The Next Morning

The next morning had come sooner than Naruto had thought, as he stretched in his bed he thought to the pleasurable night he just had. It was not often that he had any good dreams, which typically only happened when he was resting in his landscape with Kurama. But this dream had been different as instead of a dream it was more like a nightmare, he was back in that alley in Konoha. He was holding what looked like a slightly older version of that girl he had saved, _Hinata_ he believed her name was. She was crying and sobbing into his chest seeking comfort, from what he couldn't figure out however all he knew was that he _needed_ to help her. As Naruto got ready for the day brushing his teeth and eating a tray of food that had been brought to his door by a servant, he talked to Kurama to see if she could make sense of the dream. An avenue that proved fruitless as the demoness had no clue what to make of it either, deciding to put it on the backburner for later the young Hanyou left to meet up with Pein and Konan.

Upon entering the same large room that he had originally met Nagato when he was piloting Yahiko's body as Pein, Naruto saw the two Akatsuki were already there drinking coffee. "Morning guys." he called out to them as he walked over gaining a similar greeting in return.

"So how was your night? Did you sleep well?" asked Konan as she sipped from her cup.

"Damn good, that bed was easily the best I've ever slept on." he replied.

"Good, I'm glad." Konan said with a smile.

"As am I." Nagato said speaking up for the first time. "So tell me Naruto are you curious as to what mission I have in store for you?"

"Yep." Naruto answered as he sat down.

"Good, because your mission is going to be to go to Suna to gather intelligence on the state of the Ichibi Jinchuriki…...Gaara I believe is his name." said Nagato.

"Suna? Wait, don't you have Sasori somewhere in that area?" asked Naruto confused, as he knew for a fact any such mission involving Suna was best left to Sasori.

"Yes I do as a matter of fact." remarked Nagato amusedly. "He's currently in Wind Country as we speak where he maintains a permanent base deep within the desert, it's actually located in an area that even the local tribes rarely go to. I'm sending you there so that you can get some training in desert warfare, as well as some experience in intelligence gathering."

"Ohhhh ok, I get it now. By the way Nagato, there's something I want to talk about."

" Oh? And what would that be?" Nagato asked curiously.

" I want to start looking for places where I could rebuild the Uzumaki Clan." Naruto answered seriously.

Nagato was genuinely surprised when he heard this, as in fact it was something he had to not even considered till now. As he thought it over and what it would imply for the both of them as klansman, along with what it would mean for the Akatsuki. As this happened a small smile crept onto his face.

"My my, I must say I'm surprised that you Naruto." he said with a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"Huh?"

"Not even 11 years old and already you're planning to make moves on Konan, you certainly work fast." Nagato said teasingly causing Naruto to blush the same color as his hair, meanwhile Konan simply smiled.

"N-N-No that's n-not what I meant at-t all." Naruto stutter blush turned atomic.

"What?...What do you mean Naruto-kun? Am I'm not good enough for you? I thought we had something special." Konan said dramatically as she got in on the joke.

"Wait! Th-That's not what I meant at all!" Naruto cried out shaking his hands as sweat began to pour down his face, meanwhile inside of his mindscape he could hear Kurama rolling around on the ground laughing her ass off.

" _Pwahahahahahahaha! Oh this is too much! HAHAHA!"_ the demoness cackled as she held her sides.

"Alright Konan lets stop while we're ahead, I don't think Naruto-kun can take much more." said Nagato as he composed himself despite the broad smile he wore.

"Ohhhh alright." replied Konan playfully. _"When was the last time I honestly had fun like this?"_ Konan wondered. _"It's been so long I've forgotten how good it feels…"_

"So, what do you think?" Naruto asked trying to get back to the subject at hand.

"I think it's a great idea, but I have to ask first. Why not just rebuild here in Ame or even rebuild the old Uzugakure ruins?" Nagato asked curiously.

"Good point, I'm also wondering the same thing." Konan chimed in.

" _Me too!"_ cried out Kurama from the mindscape.

" *sigh* Well the thing is I want to do _both_." Naruto answered gaining confused looks from all of those gathered. "Trying to rebuild the old Uzu ruins just isn't something that is possible right now, it'll take _decades_ for me to get to a point where I could start doing something like that. But in the meantime, I figure I could find a suitable place for me to use as a starting point you know?" he asked gaining understanding looks from Nagato and Konan.

"I see…..I must say you've been giving this some thought, but why not here in Ame?" asked Nagato.

"Itoko( _cousin_ ), I actually _like_ sunlight." Naruto responded with a small grin. "Besides wherever I build a clan compound I want it to have a hell of a view, preferably near some mountains in a very defensible spot. I've read through a lot of the records of our clan during their last days…..so I'm building with crap like _that_ in mind." he said seriously.

"I see…" Nagato said soberly as he thought back to one of the scrolls he had read the night before thanks to Naruto, it had been on their clan's destruction over an entire year of conflict. "You don't want what happened to Uzugakure to ever happen again." he stated gaining a nod from the Hanyou, thinking it over an idea came to him. "Naruto, you wouldn't happen to know if our clan had any summoning contracts would you?" he asked gaining a shocked look from Naruto and a perplexed look from Konan.

"Uhhhhh no, now that you mention it we didn't. Why do you ask?"

"Because I have one that I think would go a great ways towards protecting whatever new home you build for our clan." answered Nagato. "But it will be up to you to see if they are willing to go along with it."

"Nagato you can't mean _that_ Summoning Scroll could you?" asked Konan concernedly.

"They very same, they may have been our enemies in the past but with Naruto it would be a fresh start. Besides…...we were only enemies thanks to their previous summoner." answered Nagato as he turned around and wheeled away prompting the others to follow him.

"Uhhhh Konan-sensei?" Naruto asked as they followed Nagato down a series of corridors to what appeared to be a large vault.

"Yes Naruto-kun?"

"Just _what_ Summoning Scroll is he talking about? I know Animal Summon Scrolls are really rare but still…..what's got you on pins and needles all of the sudden?" he asked.

"Well…." Konan began somewhat hesitantly, as many bad memories flashed through her mind. "Lets just say that this particular Animal Summons never met us anywhere outside of battle, and we are the ones who eventually killed their last summoner." she answered as the door to the vault opened revealing a large scroll that was resting on a stone pedestal. The scroll itself was very ornate with a deep, rich, dark purple for a primary color, and blood red highlights that accented the overall theme and design of the scroll. On the pedestal itself was a simple Kanji symbol for 'Salamander' which had been etched into the front of it, as things began to click in Naruto's mind he gave the only response he was even capable of.

"No fucking way…."

 **Two Months till Present Day**

It was now the middle of October and Naruto had just celebrated his birthday 3 days ago, making him 11 years old. As Naruto looked around him he honestly couldn't believe the pandamonium that was going on, he had started this assignment with no expectations other than it would be boring and hot as hell. He could not have been more _wrong_ about one of those assumptions. Standing on top of one of the buildings in Sunagakure Naruto could see everything that was going on from his vantage point, and he had to admit he was liking his assignment with each passing day. After spending couple of days in Ame with Nagato and Konan he had headed off for Wind Country, given he wasn't on any reall time crunch he went at a leisurely pace and made it to the rendezvous point within 5 days. When he arrived there he was happy to see Sasori was already waiting for him, after the two exchanged introductions seeing how they had never formally met before they took off at a moderate pace through the desert. From there they spent the next 2 days traveling through the desert before finally reaching Sasori's base of operations, whose entrance was nestled within a naturally occuring mountain formation that then went _deep_ underground. Naruto was very much relieved when they finally made it to the base, where he discovered that since it was underground that not only was it very cool and crisp inside, but that it had access to a natural underground lake. After the recent romp through the desert Naruto didn't question it at all when Sasori casually mentioned how the water reservoir was easily as valuable to him as any of his puppets, a fact that struck home even more when he took his first sip of it enjoying the almost sweet quality that the water possessed.

After taking a few hours to get settled in and relax he and Sasori got right into why he was there and what he would be doing, Sasori flat out told him that his mission wouldn't actually begin for another month at least. This meant that he and Naruto would have plenty of time to train in peace as Sasori showed him what he knew of desert warfare, as well as some things about poisons. When Naruto heard this he had been ecstatic as he had learned over the past few years that he had a bit of a green thumb anyways, and enjoyed watching things grow from his own efforts. It also helped that thanks to hanging around folks like Kakuzu and particularly Hitome he had developed a bit of a sadistic streak as well, which had caused him to go on far more bounty hunting missions than he normally would. Where he would try to _only_ use poisons or poison based jutsus to get his man, this had genuinely pleased Sasori to hear as he was one of the only serious poison users within the Akatsuki asides from Hitome whom he absolutely _hated_. This led to the two of them talking shop over poisons on a daily basis as they went through Naruto's training, which was good since both wanted to make the most of of the time they had before Naruto went to Suna for his mission. Out in the desert Sasori showed Naruto how to wield jutsus that made use of the sand itself, to form defensive barriers and makeshift weapons, from kunai and shuriken to senbon needles. As well as even showing Naruto several Suna methods for perfecting his Fuuton manipulation, which was admittedly the one element he had the most difficulty with due to having such an overridingly powerful affinity for Raiton. Despite having a heart that had both a Fuuton and Doton affinity, there was just no denying Naruto's inclination towards Raiton. This was something that Naruto appreciated greatly as he genuinely liked using Fuuton jutsus as they were perfect for assassination missions, as well as being used to increase the power of his Katon jutsus.

After talking it over with Kurama and even Ryuk for a bit, Naruto had decided to show Sasori several seals that he could use on his puppets. Ranging from forming chakra barriers around the puppet, to increasing the strength and already immense durability of puppets, which made him infinitely happy as it meant more of his creations would last even longer. Before long it came time to begin his mission which was simply to get a feel for how things are in Suna, as well as to keep an eye on the children of the Kazekage and report in on a regular basis. And so here we find Naruto sitting on a rooftop eating some popcorn and drinking a soda, as he watches many of the village's Jounin and Chunin chase after the Kazekage's middle child Kankuro. Kankuro who is 7 years old and has shaggy brown hair seems to have a penchant for the Suna art of Puppetry….as well as pranking the hell out of everyone. Naruto liked the little kid immediately as he got treated to an almost daily routine of this little terror stirring up trouble in some form or another, if it wasn't some clever prank it was full scale pandamonium with whatever puppet he had managed to cobble together. There was just no inbetween with him as he did everything he could to keep everyone's attention on him for as long as he could, or on whatever chaos his pranks had produced. Naruto quickly picked up on this fact due to his use of Shadow Clones keeping tabs on the eldest sibling, a sandy blonde haired girl named Temari who would immediately sneak off once trouble began. From the clone's memories Naruto discovered that for some reason the Kazekage was doing everything he could to keep his youngest son Gaara, who was also the Jinchuriki of Shukaku, separated from his older siblings. After the first few times seeing this happen Naruto eventually figured out what it was Kankuro and Temari were doing, whenever Kankuro would start trouble Temari would do everything she could to try and find Gaara and hand him a scroll and give him a hug. It was actually very sad as Naruto could see that both children were going through hell just to try and maintain _some_ form of contact with their little brother, and 9 times out of 10 tey would fail miserably. And meanwhile Naruto discovered that Gaara being a Jinchuriki was ostracized and shunned by everyone around him, this was something that left Naruto seething in rage to see as he knew _just_ how hard that could be to deal with.

Still Naruto did what he had to and stuck to the shadows as there didn't seem to be any real threat to his fellow Jinchuriki at the moment, even though he dearly wished he could do something for Gaara. And so another day came and went as Naruto watched Kankuro get caught and dragged away to most likely be punished by the Kazekage along with Temari, who had likewise failed to get to Gaara. Deciding enough had been seen for one day Naruto headed back to his hotel to study some more seals and talk to Kurama, who by this point had now grown to the size of a very large horse. It wasn't till the next day when Naruto was walking down the streets after grabbing some breakfast that things got interesting, as the Hanyou was making his way through the crowd he briefly spotted Kankuro running through an alley. Deciding to follow and see what was going on Naruto wound up making several twists and turns as he followed the young boy, before eventually seeing him disappear into what looked like a _very_ well hidden secret entrance nestled into the face of desert mountain that surrounded Suna…... _too well hidden_ in fact. Seeing this Naruto knew that whatever it was Kankuro had found had to have something that had been built by a professional at some point, though how the little boy knew of it was beyond Naruto. These suspicions were only confirmed when he opened the entrance himself having already seen where it was Kankuro had gripped, as the door opened the first thing that Naruto noticed was a symbol that was etched and painted into the side of the smooth clean stone. There on the right wall almost eye level was a blood red scorpion on a black landscape, the personal symbol of Sasori! As Naruto saw this things began to make more and more sense to him as he had seriously wondered just _how_ Kankuro was capable of constantly making puppets, deciding quickly he entered and shut the door behind him as quietly as he could before proceeding onward.

After only a few minutes Naruto's sharp ears picked up the sound of crying, turning the corner Naruto saw Kankuro curled up in a ball against one of the walls of a what appeared to be a very well kept workshop. Looking closely Naruto saw for the first time the bruises that littered the boy's arms along with the one on his cheek, it didn't take a genius to figure out that his punishment the night before had been severe. Standing there for a few minutes Naruto was slightly conflicted as he wasn't supposed to get involved let alone allow anyone to know he was even there, _but_ ….he still couldn't just leave without seeing if he was alright. Making his decision Naruto stepped out into the large workshop and cleared his throat, something that caused Kankuro to jump and let out a little yelp. Looking up towards Naruto the little boy saw that he wasn't alone, and that it looked like one of his father's Gennin had found him at last.

"Ah! Please don't tell my father!" he screamed. "IknowI'mstillintroubleandIshouldn'tevenbehereandthatIshouldhavetoldsomeoneaboutthisplace." he said panicking, his words coming out so fast that they wound up jumbled together.

" Woah woah woah kid calm down." Naruto said as calmly as you could while holding his hands up in front of him. " I'm not even a ninja of this Village." he explained hoping to keep the young kid from freaking out, only to make things worse as Kankuro's eyes widened in realization.

"Ahhhhhhhh! Enemy ninja!" Kankuro shouted before jumping towards one of the puppets that was under construction, sending a chakra string into the puppet it quickly came to life and lurched towards Naruto. Its arms drawn back prepared to strike as a large blade extended from wrist only for it to collapse lifelessly to the ground, a horrified Kankuro now staring at his only means of defense in dismay.

" *sigh* Jeez, look will you calm down please?" Naruto asked as he shook his head. "I'm not going to hurt you and just because I'm not from this village doesn't mean I'm an enemy ninja, I just saw you running through the streets and decided to follow you okay? I was just curious what was wrong." he explained inwardly hoping this would calm the young boy down, and thankfully it worked.

"You...You mean it?" Kankuro asked warily still not fully trusting the stranger in front of him.

"Yeah I do." Naruto answered as he looked around at the workshop they were standing in. "You know ever since I got here I've been watching all of the mayhem you've been causing…." Naruto began gaining Kankuro's attention. "Those glitter bombs you placed in the Jounin lounge were pretty good, especially the ones filled with itching powder." Naruto complimented snickering near the end.

"Hehehe, thanks." replied Kankuro. "Ummmm, I guess by now you know who I am but who are you Shinobi-san?"

"Naruto….Naruto Uzumaki." he answered as he removed his hood allowing his large ears and horns to be seen in the well lit room, the effect was instant as Kankuro gaped at him open mouthed like a fish for a few moments. "What? Is there something on my face?" he asked innocently.

"You…..You have _horns_?! And your _ears_!" Kankuro exclaimed pointing at the Hanyou.

"...And?..." Naruto responded with a shrug while staring back at the little 7 year old who was at a loss for words, deciding to keep things moving Naruto spoke up. "So why does your father keep you and your sister separated from your younger brother?"

"Wh-What? H-H-How do you know that?" Kankuro stammered.

"I've been watching you raise hell for about 2 weeks now remember? Wasn't _that_ hard to figure out." answered Naruto.

Bristling in anger Kankuro spoke. "It's because my dad is a big _jerk_! He never lets us see Gaara because he's supposed to be some sort of _weapon_." he said scowling. "Me and my big sister are forced to take all of these lessons too, so that way we are too busy to try and see Gaara!"

"Hmmmm from what I've seen you're pretty good with puppets, have you thought of any ways to make them better?" Naruto asked getting a confused look from the little boy.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well what I mean is, all of the greatest ninjas had something that was unique to them that they made their own. You're obviously going to become a puppeteer Ninja right? So what are you going to do to make yourself stand out?" Naruto asked causing Kankuro to look down and thought, after a few minutes of deep thought the young boy responded.

"I don't know, I'm really good at making the puppets but I'm still learning, I don't really know what else I could do to be different." Kankuro said sadly.

"Well not to worry kid because I think I have the perfect solution." Naruto said happily as he quickly summoned his clan scroll, laying it down on the ground he quickly began to read through it. For several minutes stood there looking through different sections of the scroll as they appeared, before finally finding what it was he was looking for. Going through a few hand seals Naruto slapped his hand down onto the scroll, and in a puff of smoke several books and Scrolls appeared.

"Here you go this should get you started as well as keep you busy for quite some time, and if you ever want to learn more then try and find me and I'll happily teach you." set Naruto as kankuro looked over everything that had been unsealed, after a few minutes he looked back up realizing what it was he had been given.

"Seals?" he asked as he looked back down at one of the books.

" Yep!" Naruto said happily. "Fuinjutsu may be a lost art but it's the only one that is truly capable of anything, not even Ninjutsu is capable of doing nearly as much as Fuinjutsu. If you figure out everything in those books and scrolls then you could combine it with your puppets, you might even be able to take puppetry to a whole new level." Naruto explained with a smile as he saw little stars in the young boys eyes.

" Thank you so much!" kankuro yelled as he quickly hugged Naruto before breaking off, a broad grin on his face which soon turns to confusion. " Wait a minute…why are you doing all of this for me anyway? You don't even know me or my sister or my brother."

Smiling sadly Naruto quietly undid the front of his cloak and shirt revealing the many scars that littered it, a sight that caused Kankuro to go deathly pale as his young mind slowly processed what it was he was seeing. "Lets just say that I don't like people like your father, anything to stick it to people like _that_." He said before redoing his shirt and cloak.

"Oh…...okay." Kankuro said not really sure what to say, as the images of the many scars on Naruto's chest was now burned in his mind.

"Hey…" Naruto said gaining Kankuro's attention. "You're doing all of this for your brother right?" he asked causing Kankuro to nod really fast. "Then make sure you become strong enough to protect him _AND_ you sister, and if anyone asks about these scrolls just say you found them here okay? Too many questions otherwise….You do that, and maybe someday I'll drop by and leave you leave you some scrolls." he said with a wink before turning around and leaving, while wordlessly waving to the little boy.

Kankuro stood stock still for several minutes as his mind replayed the entire conversation, as he shook himself out of his reverie he looked over to the books and scrolls that had been given to him. Gaining a look of pure determination the little boy knew what he would have to do, and quickly got to work. Hours later Naruto would stare in awe at the Ichibi no Shukaku, as it rose to its full height and roared out into the heavens as it bathed in the light of a full moon. Knowing that his time in the Sand Village had come to a close Naruto quickly stole away into the desert, all the while thinking of whether the young boy he had met would be alright. Hoping that things would work out in the end the young Hanyou redoubled his efforts to put as much distance between him and Suna as he could, as he did this he thought of the other thing that was deeply troubling him. And that was the choked sobbing that he could hear coming from Kurama from inside the seal when they saw Shukaku for the first time, not truly knowing the story there he decided to let it be for now.

 **Present Day**

Naruto couldn't believe his luck as he stared down the man the he had literally _dreamt of_ for the last 6 years, knowing full well that there were gods Naruto just _knew_ that someday he was going to have to give Karma a big sloppy kiss for this gift. Looking Fugaku up and down he couldn't help but laugh at just how accurate the rumors had been, how the man had not only had one of his arms _bitten off_ , but also seemed to be down one eye. The prosthetic arm was new though….which probably explained why Sasori had seemed so irritated just before he had left Wind Country, he'd have to remember to give the arm back to him the next time they met. Taking in everything about the fear stricken man Naruto lightly sniffed the air, and much to his pleasure his demonic senses were actually able to pick up the sweet scent of fear. Not even bothering to hide his intentions Naruto slowly reached across his waist with his right hand and drew out his Kukri from its sheath, extending his left hand a ways from his body he made a small series of one handed signs before summoning his katana Ryuk.

"You know you'll catch flies if you leave your mouth open like that…." Naruto casually commented snapping Fugaku out of his reverie, and closing his mouth which was hanging slightly open. "I can't tell you how _long_ I've waited for this moment, you've been in my thoughts and dreams _every…._. _single…..day and night_ for the last 6 _years….._ " Naruto growled as his slitted eyes began to glow.

"Well….I'm certainly glad I was able to leave an impression….after all this time I had worried I had been forgotten." replied Fugaku as he quickly got ahold of himself, his mind already racing a mile a minute. _"Hmmmm, I have to be careful here. I don't know what this little monster is capable of and he's had 6 years to train and obsess over killing me, he's probably done nothing BUT prepare for today."_ Fugaku thought to himself as he extended the two blades built into his prosthetic arm, while at the same time unsealing a double edged longsword from a small storage seal on his wrist. After finding Sasori's workshop back in Wind Country, Fugaku had to take a hard look at what was left of his prized staff weapon. It was almost completely unsalvageable and had forced Fugaku to strip the weapon down and reforge it into something else, combining the two blades into a single 36 inch long sword. He had remained there at the workshop _just_ long enough to get a proper feel for the weapon along with how to use it with his new arm, deciding to keep something of the original design of the weapon present he had added a Ram's Skull theme to the blade.

Lunging forward both of them met in the middle at the same time clashing blades with one another as both tried to kill the other, much to Fugaku's surprise he discovered that the Hanyou was surprisingly strong as he was able to match and block each of his attacks whenever necessary and was constantly on the move. No motion or movement, Fugaku noted was wasted and was as unpredictable as the last. Bringing his katana down Naruto released chakra from the blade from a near point blank range, spiraling around on itself Fugaku Shunshinned out of the way just as it was about to strike him and instead leveled a large oak tree that was behind him only to dodge another attack.

"Satoryu: Rhino Rampage." Naruto growled out as he had placed both blade up near his head, launching himself at Fugaku while channeling chakra into his blades he had turned himself into a large drill which quickly dispersed as his target once again Shunshinned out of the way. "Tetsu no Ryu: Raiton: Pressure Wave!" Naruto yelled as he swung both of his swords which were cackling with Raiton chakra, as he did this two arcs of electricity flew towards Fugaku just as his feet touched down. Thinking quickly the disgraced Uchiha poured Fuuton chakra into his blades, crossing his arms he made two diagonal slashes to counter the oncoming attacks.

Looking over at his opponent Fugaku could see that Naruto had _just_ finished preparing _another_ attack, as his katana looked to be covered in thousands of raven's feathers. _"Oh Hell…"_ he thought as the Hanyou swung. "Raven's Barrage!" Naruto called out as thousands of razor sharp feathers flew at intense speeds towards Fugaku, the Hanyou was not disappointed to see Fugaku dodging as many as he could while blocking others with some sort of a chakra shield that came from his prosthetic arm. Charging even more Raiton chakra into his kukri Naruto then let off a long series of electrical arcs, doing everything he could to keep Fugaku moving all the while paying close attention to what the man did.

" _Hmmmm so that bastard has a pretty damn good shield…"_ thought Naruto as he watched Fugaku block over a dozen of them, all while dodging the last of the feathers. Wanting to see what the man would do on the offensive Naruto decided to simply wait, and was not disappointed when Fugaku suddenly appeared behind him and stabbed him in the back with the claws of his prosthetic arm and lifted him into the air.

"Nice try you little _shit_ ….." Fugaku growled. "In what world did you _ever_ think you had a chance of beating me?" he asked as a smirk graced his face, only to turn to confusion and then revulsion as Naruto's head turned a full 180 degrees to look directly at him.

"Oh really?...I was thinking _this world_ , and if you really think that _this_ is all I'm capable of then you are in for a _very_ rude awakening." Naruto said as he slowly began to turn dark grey before dissolving into ash, immediately after this happened Fugaku was struck by a blinding light forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut as an ungodly loud ringing went off in his ears. Almost as soon as it had come the ringing had stopped and the light was gone, opening his eyes Fugaku looked around to see that he was still in the area that he had been resting in only there was no damage or signs of a battle.

" _Genjutsu…..I should have known…"_ Fugaku thought to himself as he began searching for his enemy instantly on guard, he had made a terrible blunder and he knew it. _"Great! Now that little demon knows about my arm, its capabilities, and my sword! Well I won't be underestimating him again, today he DIES!"_ With this in mind and knowing that there was no point in trying to keep it a secret like a _proper_ shinobi, Fugaku quickly summoned his sword into his hand from its storage seal all the while cursing himself for falling for a _Genjutsu_ of all things.

Standing there on guard Fugaku did not have to wait long as earthen spikes shot out of the ground attempting to impale him, dodging out of harm's way Fugaku jumped up onto a tree branch and quickly began searching for Naruto. Only to jump to another tree branch in order to dodge a large barrage of Fuuma Shurikens…..that had been covered in Raiton chakra, Fugaku watched with a slight sweatdrop as the weapons effectively leveled well over a dozen trees before getting stuck in a large boulder. Channeling chakra into his ears and nose to heighten his senses Fugaku was only able to smell fresh snow, listening closer however he heard a soft _flapping_ noise from above. As his danger senses kicked in Fugaku quickly Shunshinned away just in time to avoid a barrage of air bullets that reduced the tree to splinters, looking up towards the sky Fugaku tried to spot Naruto. After a few moments of searching he spotted something that was fast approaching, as it came into view Fugaku was confused as it looked like some sort of a _creature_ with a dark green Oni mask. The creature looked to be made up of countless threads that were blood red or pitch black in color, on its back were two large bat like wings made out of the same material as the rest of its body. As the masked creature opened up its mouth well over a dozen bullets of pure Fuuton chakra shot out towards him, thinking quickly Fugaku countered with a jutsu of his own.

"Katon: Great Fireball Jutsu!" he yelled, without making a single hand sign, Fugaku quickly inhaled a large amount of air before spitting out a massive fireball that easily ate up the Fuuton bullets. Veering off to the side in midair the creature easily dodged the attack, curling its wings around itself it then dropped dozens of feet to _just_ above the treeline before unfurling its wings and continuing on its course. This caught Fugaku off guard a bit as it looked so strange _how_ the creature flew, like it had to _weigh_ an immense amount in order to just _drop_ right out of the sky the way that it did. Whatever else Fugaku might have thought at that moment was cut short as the creature suddenly veered back around towards him, as the mouth on the mask opened up a large ball of compressed wind quickly took shape. Recognizing the attack Fugaku quickly began to make hand signs for a jutsu to counter it, but was once again shocked as Naruto jumped up from out of the trees and onto the flying creature with a jutsu of his own ready to go.

"Katon: Spicy Meatball! Fuuton: Pressure Damage!" Naruto yelled while holding his hands over his head, as a large ball of blue fire formed in between them. Throwing the ball of fire towards Fugaku, it quickly grew in size as the mask creature Naruto was riding fired off its own jutsu. As the two jutsus formed the result was a massive wall of white hot flames that incinerated everything in its path as it made its way towards Fugaku, with little other options Fugaku quickly activated his Sharingan and created his Susano. The resulting blast vaporized practically everything within 5 square acres as well as kicking up large amounts of smoke, something that greatly irritated Naruto as he was wanting to _see_ the moment Fugaku died. With barely a though he willed his Fuuton creature to rejoin with his body while they were still safely in the air, making sure to keep the mask itself out resting near his head just above his left shoulder. While on the right rested his Suiton Mask which was colored blue and was likewise Oni themed, Naruto was at that moment rather grateful for the foresight of having natural slits sewn along the back of his coat. As it allowed his threads and masks an easy way out without having to disrobe and be ready for use, he'd have to remember to thank Kakuzu for the tip later.

"I know you're still alive you bastard now show yourself! You can't hide from a sensor!" Naruto called down to the massive smoke cloud, only to get several moments of silence. "Have it your way then…" he growled before channeling a large amount of Fuuton chakra to his wings, with a single flap blew away the smoke to reveal a _seriously_ pissed off Fugaku who was standing within the ribcage of his Susano. Standing there with his good arm stretched out towards Naruto, in his hand was what looked like slightly red ball of energy.

"Katon: Laser Beam." he said before just as the name implies, a beam of pure Katon chakra shot out at incredible speeds towards Naruto's chest. Dodging out of the way the beam barely missed by a few inches, this did nothing to stop Naruto from feeling the heat from the beam however which left his right hip feeling slightly cooked.

"Nice try ass, but you're going to have to step it up a notch." Naruto growled as he summoned Ryuk back to his hand, as he did this Fugaku deactivated his Susano and charged his sword with obscene amounts of Katon chakra. Causing the long blade to develop a red chakra sheath exactly like what the samurai of Iron Country use, something that caused Naruto to raise an eyebrow.

"Hmmmm, I must say I'm surprised you know a samurai technique Fugaku-chan." Naruto sneered as he performed the same feat with his own sword, using Raiton to cover Ryuk's blade in a chakra sheath of its own. "Don't most shinobi frown on such things? Or did you just copy it along with all of your other skills from _real_ men?" he queried as he walked towards Fugaku who likewise did the same.

"You're going to die _filth_ , there's no one to save you this time but don't worry…..I'll make it quick." Fugaku snarled as he charged Naruto in a burst of speed, bringing the sword down in a diagonal slash it was met by Naruto's blade causing a large splash of sparks to shoot everywhere. Not bothering for any finesse or ceremony both combatants both settled for simply trying to butcher one another, each going purely for killing blows with each attack only to create large showers of sparks each time their blades met. This continued for several seconds till Naruto surprised Fugaku by having his Suiton mask, which was still resting on his shoulder, blast the larger man in the chest with a powerful stream of high pressured water. Causing him to go flying back into what remained of a scorched boulder, taking a moment to breath and collect himself Naruto analyzed the situation.

" _DAMNIT! I'm wasting too much chakra like this, at this rate I'll just tire myself out before I manage to get a meaningful hit on him!"_ Naruto silently cursed in his head, he had learned from his battle with the Kumo Ambassador two years ago. He had learned _just_ how much of a difference size and natural strength can make, especially when comparing the bodies of a child to an adult's. That night he had learned that even if two opponents are entirely equal in skill, that the one who is bigger, tougher, and stronger will win almost every single time. Since that night he had tried to come up with as many different ways to overcome this weakness, the first thing he had learned was improving channeling chakra throughout his body to make it stronger. This was a basic Chunnin level ability that anyone could learn, with the added bonus that it yielded greater results the more chakra you used. This also came with the drawback of eating through one's chakra reserves at a faster rate the more often and longer it was used, which was why it was only used in brief instances to give somebody a temporary edge in a fight. Problem is Naruto isn't just fighting a bunch of Jounins and Chunnins but is instead going up against a fucking S Class CRIMINAL, who's _naturally_ able to dish out the same amount of punishment that Naruto's currently doing _with_ the strength enhancing technique.

" _Fuck….guess there's just nothing I can do about that other than to wait a while for my body to finish fully growing…."_ Naruto thought as he watched Fugaku quickly get back up and brush himself off. _"Guess I'll just have to stick to long range then, and close the distance when I want to surprise him…..Good plan? GREAT PLAN!"_ he thought to himself as resealed Ryuk and began weaving hand signs as his Suiton and Fuuton masks began to launch countless elemental bullets at Fugaku, forcing him to dodge or block with his chakra shield.

"Raiton: Electric Fog." he muttered as he thrust his hands out to either side and generated a massive dark fog around the entire area they were fighting in, something that Naruto knew wouldn't affect visibility as it wasn't very thick. Luckily that wasn't the point of the jutsu as on command arcs of lightning streaked from all directions and converged on Fugaku, who didn't have enough time to activate his Susano to block it. Naruto was gratified to hear the screams of the man he was fighting, keeping the jutsu going for a few more seconds Naruto then canceled it and cleared away the fog to get a better view of the now slightly smouldering Fugaku. Who was now glaring at Naruto with his one good Sharingan eye with everything he had, before he could do anything else however Fugaku simply disappeared in a burst of speed only to reappear next to him in mid swing. Bringing Ryuk up as fast as he could Naruto wasn't able to brace himself in time for the sheer _power_ behind the attack, and was sent flying back several feet before Naruto used his wings to right himself in midair and come to a skidding halt.

As Fugaku disappeared again so too did Naruto. "Rokushiki: Soru(Shave)." Naruto muttered as he quickly folded his wings as close to his body as he could, moving at intense speeds he then was able to dodge Fugaku's next attack which would have bisected him. "Rokushiki: Kamisori(Razor)" Naruto's next attack shocked Fugaku as the young Hanyou then _ran on the air_ and drop kicked him across the clearing, this caused the older man to gasp in pain as he knew that had easily broken a rib.

" _THAT'S IT!"_ Fugaku thought to himself as he got back up to see Naruto no in the air, his wings flapping to keep him steady a solid 40 ft. off of the ground. "It's been fun you little shit, but I've had it up to hear with your games!" he yelled as he looked Naruto in the eye his Mangekyo Sharingan spinning, almost immediately Naruto's world then turned incredibly black as the young Hanyou found himself alone in a void of nothingness. Slowly it changed to him being in a dark forest with a blood red sky due to an equally crimson full moon, as everything came into focus he was back at that clearing by the river where it had all began. Looking around he noticed that he was back in his small 5 year old body, as the implications of what this all meant rushed through his mind dozens of men began to appear all around him.

Screaming Naruto realized that they were all the men who had tortured and raped him all those years ago, trying his best to escape he was violently shoved down to the ground. As countless hands began to claw and tear at his clothes and limbs Naruto heard a sadistic laughter coming from the treeline, looking over through the mass of bodies he saw Fugaku standing there laughing as he watched just before another body obstructed the Hanyou's view. Before he could even scream again something long, thick, and foul tasting that he was all too familiar with was violently shoved into his mouth.

As Fugaku stood there in the Genjutsu watching it all play out he felt the familiar rush of power course through him as he enjoyed the show, he would make sure to drag everything out for as long as he could. After everything that had happened to him lately he was going to _enjoy himself_ for the first time in over half a year, thanks to all of the practice he had gotten over the last 6 years with his Mangekyo he knew he could easily stretch out the time they spent in the illusion to at least a couple of months. Sure it'd be a large use of his chakra but it would be damn worth it, and afterwards he could have a bit more fun with the little demon before he finally finished him off…..or maybe he'd see if he could turn the Hanyou into his personal pet? Smiling at that thought Fugaku let out a purely evil chuckle as he watched on, knowing exactly what it was he would do once the Genjutsu was done. As all manner of twisted thoughts went through his mind, he stopped as he heard something odd…..almost like….the sound of someone eating? Looking over to his right Fugaku saw Naruto standing there next to him in his current 11 year old form, casually eating a bag of popcorn.

" _What the fuck?!"_ Fugaku thought to himself.

"So how does it taste?" Naruto asked calmly as he looked up at Fugaku.

"Wh…..What?" Fugaku asked both alarmed and deeply confused only to receive an evil smile.

"The dick in your mouth of course…" Naruto answered with a laugh.

Before Fugaku knew what was happening he found himself pinned to the ground in what he thought had been Naruto's place naked as the day he was born, gagging and choking on whatever was shoved down his throat, he realized to his horror that it was in fact a dick. Trying his best to get out of the situation attempted to end the Genjutsu only to discover much to his shock that he couldn't, trying again and again to break off and disrupt the illusion it quickly became an exercise in futility as every time he tried he only failed. Eventually his attempts at freedom became desperate as he did anything he could to gain control over the Genjutsu and assert his will back over it, this too was all for naught only now he was rewarded with the same dick he had been choking on finally shooting its load into his mouth before it was removed.

Coughing and throwing up everything that had just been deposited down his throat, his breath was ragged and horse due to the abuse his throat had just endured. "Tastes awful doesn't it?" Naruto asked as he walked up to the still prone man, whilst around them everything and everyone seemed to have frozen in time. "Did you really think that I wouldn't study Genjutsu before coming after you? That I wouldn't take steps to prepare myself for fighting you?...YOU? The man known throughout the world as 'Wicked Eyes Uchiha', who took down entire battalions during the last war?" Naruto asked with a smirk. "Let me guess…..you're wondering how this is all possible since you have your precious case of pink eye activated right?" he asked.

"This shouldn't be possible! How are you doing this?!" screamed Fugaku who had yet to stop trying to break the illusion.

"Meh….normally you'd be correct, _but_ ….that's only when talking a out other _humans_." replied Naruto getting a confused look from Fugaku. "Hmhmhmmm no matter, there will be plenty of time for that later. For now though you're going to suffer, and what better way than to make you suffer through everything that you and those bastards put me through that night?...For the next three months." he said growling at the end, before Fugaku could even let out a scream Naruto snapped his fingers in the illusion began once more.

Back in the real world

Fugaku gasped as he came to from the effects of the genjutsu, doubling over he quickly threw up everything that had been in his stomach and more. Coughing and out right dry heaving, it took several minutes for Fugaku to compose himself enough to stand back up.

" I must say I'm surprised that didn't completely shatter your mind, well done." Naruto complemented now back on the ground.

" How?…" Fugaku asked while looking down, a shadow covering the top part of his face.

"Hmm? 'How' what?" Naruto asked innocently.

"How did you overpower my genjutsu?! That shouldn't have been possible with my Mangekyo!" he roared as the strain on his sanity had him currently seeing doubles.

"You forget I'm only _half_ human, which means the same rules don't necessarily apply to me." replied Naruto. "Since I'm a Hanyou my chakra is easily 5 times more potent than a regular human's, granted that means I can't really learn _human_ illusions let alone use them effectively. That doesn't mean I can't learn proper _demonic_ illusions….you'd be surprised just how much more _compassionate_ my kind are to children than humans." he explained with a Cheshire Grin, his razor sharp teeth on full display.

Fugaku froze at that, as he thought over the implications of what Naruto had just said the color began to drain from his face. "No…..There…..There are _more_ like you?!"

"Yep!" Naruto chirped before his face twisted into a sadistic smile. "And speaking of demons….how would you like to meet one?" he asked before holding up the hand sign for 'release'. Immediately afterwards there was a large explosion of smoke in front of Naruto, as the smoke cleared Fugaku saw something that terrified him to his core. For standing there in front of him was a massive fox, that was easily twice the size of a purebred stallion. A fox that had nine tails….

"Hahaha! Say helloooo to my not-so-little friend the Kyuubi no Yoko. And she's been dying to meet you." Naruto said right before Kurama charged, closing the distance faster than either opponent could track Kurama slammed into Fugaku hard with a powerful headbutt. The sheer force of impact alone instantly broke four of Fugaku's ribs before sending him flying through the air, not taking any chances Fugaku immediately reactivated is Susano. Trying desperately to force it to grow beyond its initial large rib cage Fugaku learned that just wasn't in the cards for him just now, as Kurama at that point was venting over a hundred years of anger and frustration out on him. The end result being the pissed off demoness smacking the disgraced Uchiha through the air with her tails like some sort of pinball, over and over and over and over again. The only saving grace in the situation was that Fugaku was still protected from most of the damage by his Susano, though even that was starting to fail him.

Thinking quickly after a particularly _hard_ hit that sent him up into the air, Fugaku quickly pumped as much chakra into his Susano as he could causing it to go straight to its Semi-Final Stage. Now finally able to fight at the same level he had fought Okami Inuzuka in, Fugaku took a moment to breath a sigh of relief as he straightened up and began to focus the task at hand. Looking down he he saw Naruto who was standing on the Kyuubi's shoulders was now taking off his coat and shirt for some damned reason before sealing them away, looking closely Fugaku saw the many scars that the Hanyou had all over his body. As Naruto looked back up at him he saw the boy's body began to…... _open up_ for lack of a better choice of words. All along most of Naruto's stitches and scars his body simply opened up like some sort of a living macabre rag doll coming apart at the seams, and out spewed countless more black and red strings that either covered more of Naruto's body or simply reached down to wrap around the Kyuubi's body. Before long two massive bat like wings formed from the strings and with a single flap rocketed both demons into the air, where they hovered at eye level with Fugaku glaring at him. As they stared one another down it was a rather surreal experience for Fugaku as he looked at the literal demon that he himself had created, knowing full well that their story would finally come to close one way or another, Fugaku resolved to put the boy in front of him in the ground. Inspecting the strange sight before him Fugaku noted how Naruto sat atop the Kyuubi's shoulders as the strings coming from his body formed something akin to a saddle, that wrapped around the demon's body and neck with both of the wings situated _just_ behind where Naruto was. Another thing that Fugaku noted was that the masks from before were back out and where seated all along the Kyuubi's body, with the green Fuuton mask just below the Kyuubi's neck covering it's chest. While the blue Suiton mask and one more golden mask sat on either side of it, all of which were pointed directly towards him.

As flashes of his fight with Okami ran through his mind Fugaku swore as he knew what was going to happen next if he didn't act fast, forming a massive kite shield on the Susano's left arm a large chakra version of his new double edged sword appeared in its right hand. Moving hard and fast Fugaku willed his Susano to let out a fast barrage of attacks with its sword, meanwhile a second set of arms formed on the chakra construct's back. After both arms had formed sets of destructive Magatama Beads took shape, holding onto them for now Fugaku instead focused on pressing the attack with his Susanoo's sword while keeping the thing as mobile as he could. As this was happening Naruto and Kurama were flying through the air evading Fugaku's slashes, which was easy to do as for the most part they just needed to fly high enough to remain relatively safe. Communicating at the literal speed of thought both began peppering Fugaku with high powered ninjutsu, surprising Fugaku who was forced to rely on his Susanoo's shield to defend. Fugaku quickly became devotely thankful that he had taken the time over the last several months to further experiment with his Susanoo, after his battle with Okami he had learned that despite how powerful it was the Susanoo was still vulnerable to aerial attacks. This had led to him making sure to create something that would offer him better defense, so that way he wouldn't have to waste chakra repairing his Susanoo all the time, along with developing a few other tricks as well. Deciding enough was enough Fugaku then went on the offensive willing his secondary arms to hurl the Magatama Beads that they had been holding, as the beads flew towards Naruto and Kurama, they began to break apart in midair turning into dozens of smaller versions of the explosive beads similar to the Shadow Clone Shuriken Jutsu.

"Fuck!" Naruto yelled before blazing through well over a dozen hand signs. "Fuuton: Pressure Damage!" he yelled out causing the Fuuton mask to fire of the jutsu, not once, not twice, but a total of _three_ times in rapid succession. The resulting typhoon of rushing wind detonated a vast majority of the miniature Magatama Beads, while the rest were blown well off course to detonate off in the distance. Not even finished, Naruto reached into his pouch and took out a thick blue scroll which he opened up before tossing high into the air. With a single hand sign obscene amounts of water easily enough to fill up an average sized lake was unsealed from the scroll, as it fell to the earth Naruto completed the last of his hand signs.

"Suiton: Tsunami! Raiton: Black Chain Lightning!" Naruto yelled as he and the blue Suiton mask spat out even more water, to add to the massive amounts that was already falling to the earth. As this happened the water swirled and coalesced into a massive concentrated wave that was heading straight for Fugaku's Susanoo, as this was happening the mouth of the golden mask opened up to spit out a very large beam of black lightning. The effect was instantaneous as the tsunami turned pitch black as the lightning coursed through it, enhancing its power, and speeding it up dramatically to the point where Fugaku didn't have any chance to escape and was forced to take the attack head on.

When the massive attack struck Fugaku's Susanoo there was a blinding light followed by a deafening explosion that seemed to stretch on for what seemed like forever, after some moments both Naruto and Kurama realized the reason why was that the tsunami simply wasn't finished falling down on their enemy. As this revelation came Naruto gasped as became very disorientated, after using so many high scale ninjutsu for so long he was starting to run low on chakra causing his breathing to become ragged. Sucking in as much air as he could Naruto was thankful that he had strung himself up to Kurama's back the way he did or he was sure he would have fallen off, quickly popping a few soldier pills he grit his teeth as the influx of extra chakra poured through his body.

" _Naruto-kun!"_ Kurama telepathically yelled still having the presence of mind to give away their position with all of the smoke surrounding them.

" _Hey Kurama-chan…..sorry….that last one took a lot out of me."_ Naruto answered somewhat weakly as he slowly recovered enough to sit up straight.

" _No shit Sherlock! Now what do you want to do about this asshole?!"_

" _Well….I don't really have any Fuinjutsu seals prepared that could do anything meaningful so that's out….."_ Naruto replied as he started to go over his options, before he developed a slight twinkle in his eye. _"Tell you what, you keep him busy for me by hitting him with some of your Tailed Beast Balls. And I'll take him down with my-"_

" _Say no more just make sure you hit the son of a bitch UNDERSTAND?!"_ Kurama yelled through their link.

" _Hai."_ Naruto responded before flying them down closer to where they figured Fugaku was, channeling some Fuuton chakra to his wings he sent a few large gusts of wind to clear out the smoke. What the two demons saw please them greatly, as Fugaku's Susanoo had basically been reduced to a skeleton that had been knocked down to the ground and was practically falling apart. Seeing how the once proud Uchiha appeared to be on his last legs Kurama quickly began to gather positive and negative energy into her mouth, noticing how the chakra construct was quickly being reconstructed Kurama formed as powerful an Imari as she could before sending it rocketing towards the ground. The resulting explosion was nowhere near what the demoness was normally capable of, but neither she nor Naruto could complain with the results as one of the Susanoo's legs was obliterated.

" _Fuck!"_ Fugaku thought furiously as once again, he found himself on his back having to simply tank powerful jutsus and wait it out. Looking up he saw that the Kyuubi was preparing another of its attacks, thinking quickly he willed the Susanoo to create another large shield. Going so far as to even let the remaining leg of his Susanoo retract back into the torso, just so that he could make it's shield as large and as thick as possible. Which proved to be a wise decision as the next moment afterwards he was once again hammered by a Tailed Beast Ball, which destroyed just over half of his shield. Looking up Fugaku's eyes widened in horror as he witnessed the Kyuubi vanish in a puff of smoke likely back into the seal on Naruto's stomach, but that was not what scared Fugaku. As the countless strings retreated back into Naruto's body in a matter of seconds, it soon was just the young Hanyou using his wings to keep him in the air as his right hand was held up above his head even further into the air. With only his pointer finger sticking straight out to the sky, there only a few feet above Naruto's head was what looked to be a dark purple ball of pure malevolent energy easily the size of a large beach ball.

" **Onijutsu: Toxic Luster Bomb."** Naruto growled while looking down at Fugaku with a look of pure hatred as he dropped his hand down till his finger was pointing right at the him, without so much as a sound the volatile jutsu rocketed towards Fugaku and struck before he even had time to throw up his arms in defense. The resulting blast was massive as it blew down even more of the surrounding trees that were still several acres away, as the blast went off it created a blinding purple light for several seconds before finally dying down. When the world finally came back into view for the young Hanyou there wasn't even dust or smoke cloud to hamper his vision, just a massive crater that was steadily growing larger and deeper by the minute. Feeling exhaustion begin to take a firm grip on him Naruto quickly landed near the center of the crater, not even fearing the miasma that was eating away at the very soil Naruto slowly limped his way towards what remained of his enemy. Reaching his destination Naruto looked down on the disgraced Uchiha who had ruined his life, coughing out large amounts of blood with both of his legs missing. Somehow Fugaku had managed to survive the blast, possibly by focusing all of his chakra into the Susanoo around himself, either way it didn't matter to him.

As Naruto inspected the state of Fugaku a small smile spread across his face as he once again unsealed his sword Ryuk, not even bothering for any dialogue or formality, he quickly channeled some Raiton chakra through the blade before slicing off Fugaku's prosthetic arm at the elbow. Cutting off the flow of chakra to the weapon he slowly dragged his palm along the blade summoning Ryuk to his side, as Naruto did this his eyes never once left Fugaku's.

"It's time Fugaku." Naruto said as Ryuk appeared from behind Naruto, spooking Fugaku who could actually see the dark god.

" **Sooo…...this is finally coming to head huh? Have you thought on what you want to do?"** Ryuk asked an uncharacteristic seriousness in his voice.

"Hai….I have. And I know what it is that I want to do." answered Naruto. "I've chosen the ultimate punishment for him, he's not good enough to go to any heaven or hell. I want him **Erased…"** he said his voice taking on a now demonic tone as he stood over the fallen Uchiha, kneeling down Fugaku suddenly gasped in renewed pain. After a few moments Naruto stood back up and in his free hand he held Fugaku's remaining working Sharingan eye, not even bothering to say anything to the man Naruto positioned his blade in order to stab him in the heart.

" **Very well…..Erasement is Approved."** said Ryuk as he placed his hand on Naruto's right shoulder.

"Disappear…." Naruto said as his sword glowed an unnatural pale purple before plunging it into the man's chest, oddly enough there was no sound as Fugaku's body slowly began to flake away and disintegrate into ash. In the span of a few seconds Fugaku Uchiha, the man who had ruined his life, and haunted him for the last 6 years was gone. Never to go to Heaven, never to go to Hell, never to harm another person, never to ruin another life. For Fugaku Uchiha had not just been killed, Naruto had used the most terrifying ability of his sword to destroy Fugaku's soul and erase him from existence. Looking up to the sky Naruto couldn't help the scream that ripped through his throat and out his mouth, for several long seconds he simply screamed as it simply the only thing that he could do before unconsciousness finally took him.

 **And done! I hope you all like this chapter I was hurrying to get it done and completed before midnight tonight and I did it!**


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